


The Blue Lantern

by AttackPlatypus



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Arrowverse - Fandom, DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Gen, Larger Arrowverse, New Character - Freeform, New Hero - Freeform, Post Season Three Flash AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-01-07 23:19:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12242592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AttackPlatypus/pseuds/AttackPlatypus
Summary: Set in an alternate timeline that diverges from the mainstream Arrowverse after the finale of "Flash" season threeBarry Allen's absence has left Central City with a hole in it's soul. Kid Flash has done admirably in his stead but the city drifts listlessly without it's heart and soul: The Flash. Into this steps a mysterious new player with their own agenda and their own plans for Central City and Team Flash.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> As noted in the summary this is set in my own timeline of the Arrowverse. I've wanted to put an AV work together for sometime and it would HAVE to involve my favorite team in the DC lore (The Blue Lantern Corps). 
> 
> Feedback is ALWAYS appreciated and of course keep checking back for another chapter in Shana's adventures.

Something had most definitely changed in Central City.

 

Everyone in the city felt it, and yet almost no one acknowledged it. An unnamed and only partially grasped malaise of despondency. Somehow the autumn wind bit just a bit deeper than usual. The sun didn’t seem quite as bright. It was as though the former vibrancy of the city had faded into dull shades of grey.

 

Of course the cause of this feeling wasn’t any mystery to the employee’s of STAR labs. The real STAR labs that is, not the museum. It had been months since Barry Allen had entered the speed force of his own free will, and in many ways he’d taken the beating heart of the city with him. Central City endured but it was as though it had stopped living and was merely existing.

 

This feeling was almost entirely internal however. Outwardly, Central City was doing fine. Team Flash, and many citizens, had braced for a brutal wave of crime in the absence of the scarlet speedster, a crime wave that had never materialized. In fact crime had actually declined slightly while encounters with hostile meta-humans had almost ceased. Under the watchful eye of Kid Flash the people of Central City had seemingly never been safer and never less happy.

 

As with so many of the best things in life the total impact the Flash had made on the lives of everyone in the city had only been totally apparently when he’d gone. The STAR Labs team still went through motions of course, they owed it to their departed comrade to remain at their post. But vigilance had turned to boredom and it had been all too easy for Team Flash to slip into the same funk that lay like a pall over the rest of the city.

  
Few felt this more acutely than Cisco Ramon. Though he’d done his best to maintain his outward abulience, more for the sake of his teammates than his own inclination, it felt forced and mechanical even to him. Eventually he’d given up and was now almost unrecognizable as the happy go lucky tech head of the last few years. As metahuman crime had dried up Kid Flash had needed less and less support from the rest of team Flash to cope. This had left Cisco with little to do with his time as he had little inclination to try and embark and superpowered vigilantism on his own, and few opportunities in any case.

 

And so, almost against his will, Cisco had slowly allowed himself to be drawn more and more into the day to day running of the STAR labs museum. At first he’d couched this as a practical matter. If they were going to run a museum in the STAR lands building then they might as well do it right. So he’d tinkered with several of the holodisplays to improve their resolution and reduce audio dropouts. Next he’d decided that windows themselves could actually be used as large holo display boards. And on and on he’d gone with project after project.

 

The other members of Team Flash at first had been very encouraging, though this had quickly turned to apathy. Cisco knew that he was behaving something like a bored household husband who invented projects simply to have something to do, and privately he supposed he’d been hoping one of his friends would eventually point this out. Unfortunately the rest of Team Flash either hadn’t noticed or simply didn’t care. This, combined with the fact that he hadn’t seen nor heard from Gypsy in months, left him feeling terribly and unspeakably alone.

 

In the old days, the GOOD old days as he now thought of them, it would have been Caitlin who would have eventually told him to he was going overboard. Or perhaps HR would have found a way to subtly redirect his manic energy down a different path. Neither was an option anymore however. And he supposed that was the real problem. Caitlin, or Killer Frost or whatever she was now calling herself, had left and HR was dead. In his most private and reflective moments Cisco guessed that his new manic dedication was a way for him to feel close to them again. Caitlin because of his many memories of her in this place and HR because the museum had actually been his idea.

 

Unfortunately this tangle of emotional motivations made him very protective of his work at the museum, unfortunate for the other people around him. It simply wasn’t feasible for the Team Flash crew to run the whole museum by themselves in the form of occasional part time shifts. So a seemingly reluctant Cisco had agreed to the ‘waste of time’ of hiring a staff for what they now called the ‘front of the house’. The interviewing process had not been an easy one.

 

Because if his deep and mostly unacknowledged attachment to the museum he’d gone into the interviews with absurdly high expectations. He’d known this but that hadn’t stopped him from buzz sawing his way through the first wave of candidates like a thermal lance through ice. He’d been in the process of doing the same with the second until Julian and Iris had stepped in and eventually simply taken over the process from him. Despite this Cisco had insisted on being named the manager for the museum and after some exchanged glances the rest of Team Flash had at least not argued, though he was sure they didn’t quite agree with the idea.

 

And this was wear his overprotectiveness of his work became unfortunate, for it had turned him into the bane of his employees existence. Everyone could count of DOCTOR Ramon, for that was what he insisted they call him, to find their work unsatisfactory in almost every way. Consequently, and predictably, this had led to a rapid turnover rate among the staff. It was rare for an employee in the front of the house to last more than a few weeks before storming off the premises.

 

The fact that he was aware not only of his staff’s feelings but that they were totally justified did nothing to improve Cisco’s mood. He found himself trapped in a vicious feedback loop that sometimes had him contemplating open a breach to another earth and simply leaving forever. But as a good scientist Cisco knew better than anyone that objects at rest tend to stay at rest, in personal terms this meant that getting OUT of ruts was almost impossible. And it seemed he no longer had the the safety net of friends he’d once thought he did.

 

Caitlin and HR were gone. Joe and Iris were always kind of supportive but were both very busy with their own lives and somehow Cisco never felt right unburdening himself to them. Wally was so wrapped up in being Kid Flash that Cisco doubted he’d really noticed the downturn in his friend’s mental state. Harry wasn’t the sort who invited these kind of confidences and he simply wasn’t that close with Tracy or Julian yet.

 

These and other grim thoughts chased themselves around his brain as he pushed through the main doors to the STAR labs building that morning. The museum wouldn’t be open for another hour or so and he’d intended to simply check in with Wally to see if he needed anything, unlikely, and then to head to his front of the house office where he would brood for most of the morning. There were several museum employees present as he entered though most seemed to suddenly recall urgent business elsewhere when they saw him.

 

The exception stood behind the ‘Jitters’ cart in the lobby. Iris had insisted that Cisco reach out to the coffee shop about opening a cart in the museum both as a tribute to HR and a sound business move. He’d grumbled in a perfunctory way about ‘commercialism ruining science’ but had privately agreed on both counts. Unsurprisingly the cart had proven to be very popular with both the museum patrons and the coffee craving Team Flash who often made runs up from the basement to pick up various drinks.

 

This morning the person manning the cart was a petite young woman who was presently smiling pleasantly at Cisco as he approached her cart. Her, he recalled, was Shana and she was very blue. Not in the sense that he and the rest of the city seemed to be but in a more literal sense. Her eyes were the darkest hue of royal blue he’d ever seen and her hair was colored an icy almost neon shade of the same color. She’d been hired by Iris and when he’d first met her Cisco had thought about telling her off for looking ‘unprofessional’ but even in his far gone state he couldn’t bring himself to be that level of tyrannical.

 

Besides he found it very difficult to dislike Shana, and he’d tried. But there was something about the woman’s poise and general optimism toward life that was refreshing. It wasn’t the bubbly sunshine day sort of optimism, which he could easily have disliked, but a quieter and subtler type that nonetheless seemed to radiate from her. In the past he’d found that his mood improved simply by visiting her cart, though he assumed this had more to do with the coffee than the company.

 

“Good morning Doctor Ramon, the usual ready to go” Shana said as he approached, holding a cup toward him with a smile. Cisco merely grunted at her as he took from her and walked away. Technically none of the senior STAR labs staff (i.e. Team Flash) had to pay for their coffee, a small perk HR had created for them, but as a recompense they all tipped generously. All except Cisco over the last few months. If this irked Shana however she didn’t show it nor did her smile waver as he all but snatched the cup from her hand. For the barest of moments as he did their hands came in contact and the tip of his finger brushed something hard and metallic.

 

_A flash of stars, he was hurdling through space while all around him was a brilliant aura of blue light._

 

Gasping Cisco took a quick step back just before the coffee cup hit the gleaming floor. He blinked furiously and looked around disoriented. He’d just vibed something of that he was certain but what? Before he could fully collect himself he heard Shana’s stammering apologies as she quickly rounded her cart with a handful of napkins. She was babbling something he didn’t quite hear as she knelt and began dabbing at the spreading coffee on the floor. Cisco shook his head once before his surroundings came back to him quickly as he felt liquid on the front of his coat and shirt.

 

“God dammit look what you did” Cisco snapped at Shana, abruptly halting her flow of apologies as he stepped back with his arms spread and looked down at his coat. There was indeed a small stain over his stomach where his cup had hit him after he’d dropped it.

 

“I am so sorry Doctor I-” Shana began as she advanced on him with a napkin.

 

“I think you’ve done enough just go make me another one, now!” Cisco snapped at her as he took a step back. Shana’s whole body jerked at this as though he’d slapped her but she nodded silently and retreated back behind her cart. “And clean this up!” Cisco growled impatiently at her as she worked furiously to make him another drink.

 

“Cisco!” a stern voice called from across the lobby. Both Cisco and Shana looked up to see Irish West striding purposefully toward them. The reporter was wearing a stylish leather coat over leggings and boots though the fall ensemble didn’t sit well at all with the dark look on her face. Her eyes flashed as she glared silent at Cisco for several moments before saying “...there’s a matter that needs your attention DOCTOR Ramon”.

 

“I-” Cisco began but Iris rode over him.

 

“Now!” she said in a tone that meant ‘now’. Sending a sullen glance at Shana as though this were somehow her fault Cisco stormed off toward the elevators as Iris turned, with a much more human look on her face, toward Shana.

 

“I’m sorry Miss West, I’ll just finish cleaning this up and then I’ll have your coffee ready in a few moments” Shana said, sounding wretched as she once again grabbed a handful of napkins before something seemed to hit her and she spun quickly saying “oh no...Doctor Ramon’s drink!”.

 

Iris took a step forward and put a hand on the other woman’s shoulder saying “don’t worry about it, and don’t worry about cleaning this up the jani-bots will take care of it”. Sure enough small circular robots, looking like miniature roombas, were already speeding toward the spilled coffee. Small lights atop their bodies flashed yellow as a warn to anyone who might not be looking down as they passed.

 

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that” Shana said with a nervous laugh as she watched the bots quickly and efficiently clean up the mess before vanishing again.

 

“One of the perks of working in a scientific facility” Iris said with shrug. She then looked Shana in the eye and said “I’m sorry that Cisco has been so hard on you and everyone here, he’s a good man he’s just...well...WE have all been dealing with a tough few months, it’s nothing against you”.

 

Shana smiled back and nodded saying “oh I never thought it was Miss West, and don’t worry I never take it Mr. Ramon personally”.

 

“You don’t?” Iris asked, sounding politely skeptical, before adding “...it’s OK you know, he hasn’t treated you very well I know”.

 

Shana’s smile became rueful as she said “I’m very aware Miss West it’s just...it’s very obvious that Doctor Ramon is in pain for some reason and I just can’t be too angry with him knowing that”.

 

Iris didn’t speak for several moments before she said in a quieter tone “he is...but sometimes I wonder if he’ll ever get better…”. She shook her head then and with a forced smile said “but I’m sorry for dropping that on you and thank you for being so understanding”. She stepped forward and dropped some money into the carts tip jar before giving Shana another smile and walking toward the elevators after Cisco.

 

“Miss West?” Shana called after.

 

Iris turned back to her and said in a mock pleading tone “PLEASE call me Iris, ‘Miss West’ makes me feel impossibly old”.

 

Shana laughed, a lyrical sound that made Iris smile, before she said “Iris then, don’t give up on him, Doctor Ramon I mean, there always hope”. Maybe it was a trick of the light reflecting off Shana’s vibrant eyes but Iris could have sworn in the split second before the other woman turned back to her coffee she’d caught a blue glow in her eyes. Given her past experiences with glowing blue eyes it was enough to make her do a double take but when she looked back Shana was busily restocking one of the shelves on her cart. Deciding she was seeing things Iris headed into the elevators.

 

As the doors closed in front of her Iris said to herself “there’s always hope…”.

 

* * *

 

Julian Albert had acquired many skills over the course of his life. He was a world renowned criminologist, a leader in meta-human forensics, an archaeologist, and a military veteran among many other things. One skill he’d never mastered was that of dealing with people, and so when Iris West entered the main lab several minutes after Cisco Ramon had stalked in, her eyes ablaze, he had decided to remain tactfully silent.

 

“Oh here we go” Cisco muttered to himself as Iris stalked over to him.

 

“Yeah, here we go!” Iris said in an angry tone.

 

“I-” Cisco began to say but Iris cut him off with a glare.

 

“You are SO lucky you know that Cisco?” Iris snapped at him.

 

“Oh yeah? I feel it! Got to start my day with a minor burn and a stained shirt things are all coming up Cisco!” he snapped back.

 

The argument continued like that for almost a quarter of an hour until both Cisco and Iris are hoarse from yelling. Julian did his best during this time to remain inconspicuous and to work quietly. Perhaps it was an advantage of being British, the ability to ignore emotional turmoil no matter how close it was. Still he had to concede that it made working difficult. Julian found that he was attempting to analyze the same slide for the fourth time when another voice cut across Iris and Cisco’s argument.

 

“Excuse me!” Harrison “Harry” Wells said from the doorway. Both Iris and Cisco turned to look at him as he entered the room and headed toward where Julian was working he continued “as important as whatever it is you’re arguing about undoubtedly is I feel compelled to remind you both that Kid Flash is still in need of our assistance in confronting a meta-human who seems to have control over magnetism so if you don’t mind I would like to work in some peace and QUIET!”. Neither Iris nor Cisco responded immediately as Harry walked to where Julian was working and handed him a tablet which displayed a list atmospheric readings obviously pulled from a STAR labs satellite.

 

“Thanks mate” Julian muttered as he studied the numbers on the screen without really seeing them. He was privately waiting for the the argument to resume behind them.

 

“I’m going to see if their are any leads at the paper” Iris said huffily before he heard the sound of her boots leaving the room.

 

“I gotta go work on that dampening beam” Cisco said before he too left.

 

Julian let out a small sigh of relief at this at the prospect not only of being able to work but being done with the argument. Harry seemed to share his sentiment as he turned to leave. Both me suddenly jumped as with a rushing sound Wally West aka Kid Flash suddenly appeared in front of them, sending loose papers flying as he did.

 

“Oi watch it!” Julian cried as he snatch a sheet of notes he’d written down the night before from where it had landed.

 

“So...whats going on with Iris and Cisco?” Wally asked slowly as he undid his mask.

 

“Some kind of interpersonal conflict…” Harry said dismissively before asking “...did you find any evidence of our new meta while on patrol?”.

 

“Nothing man, she’s gone totally dark…” Wally said distractedly before resuming his original train of thought “...what sort of interpersonal conflict?”.

 

Harry closed his eyes and sighed before saying “Ramon is dealing with the same depressive state he’s been in since Allen vanished and apparently he took it out on one of the employees of that ridiculous museum of yours at which point your sister intervened and that is why she is now upset with Ramon”.

 

Wally blinked at this summary as Julian turned to Harry and asked “you weren’t here, how did you…?”.

 

Harry, now massaging his temples, answered in a tired voice “they were VERY loud Albert”.

 

“And...about this argument…” Wally put in “...you two…?”

 

“Want nothing to do with it” both Julian and Harry answered simultaneously.

* * *

  


That evening Shana Walker was the last one of the museum staff to leave the building. Which wasn’t to say that it was empty, she could see several cars still in the parking lot which told her that at least some of the senior staff were still closeted downstairs. It seemed that at least one of them never left the building. Putting this aside she tucked a strand of rebellious blue hair behind her ear before pulling on mittens against the chilly fall evening.

 

As she headed toward the bus stop she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Tugging it out of her jeans she pulled her mitten off with her teeth and turned on it’s display. Seeing she had a text message she unlocked the phone and brought up the message. When she saw who it was from she pursed her lips but she opened it anyway and read:

 

_Please Answer me Shay! I really want to talk! About us! - Z_

 

Sighing she slide the phone back into her pocket without responding. She didn’t have either the time or inclination to deal with the sender right now. All she wanted was to go home. Take a shower, and curl up in bed. Still, as she’d done precious little but stand all day she also felt the need to stretch her legs so she decided to bypass the bus stop and walk to her apartment.

 

It was a long walk from the museum to her place but she found she enjoyed the chance to disengage from her surroundings and simply think. She’d come to Central City for a very specific purpose but it seemed as though she still had no idea how to accomplish her goals. This was certainly frustrating but she remained as certain as though she’d seen the future that she WOULD find a way.

 

She’d always been this way. People often called her an optimist which she guessed was partially true, but not the whole story. Shana was fully aware that setbacks in life were inevitable and sometimes things simply didn’t work out, so she was at least not per blind. However, and despite life giving her many reasons to think otherwise, she never gave up. If something was worth accomplishing then she would do so, eventually.

 

She stopped to buy herself a cup of coffee to help keep warm against the night chill before returning to her reflections. Despite her outlook it didn’t mean things like the text message from her ex didn’t get to her. Before her new purpose in life she’d spent years trying to contort her life around that of her girlfriends. FORMER girlfriend she corrected herself firmly. It had prevented her from ever really establishing an identity beyond that of ‘Z’s girlfriend’ and in hindsight she realized that it also showed the tremendous danger of hope.

 

Hope was the most powerful force in the universe, she believed this with her whole being. But it also made the most inescapable prison. Hope that she and ex might someday establish something closer to a ‘normal’ life had been what had kept Shana locked in that relationship FAR beyond when she should have know it wouldn’t work. Hope that it could still happen was what kept her from deleting her ex’s number from her phone.

 

She was so deep in her own head that she barely noticed the fight until it nearly bowled her over. Just as she reached the mouth of an alley she had to leap backward as a man came staggering backward out of it. Half a second later another man came after him his fist drawn back for another punch. The first man had recovered however and he charged forward catching his attacker around the midsection and driving him back into the alley. As the sounds of the scuffle continued Shana looked quickly around the street. There were few open businesses along this stretch so aside from a few cars and one or two other pedestrians she was quite alone.

 

Setting her jaw she looked around once more before darting into the alley. She was surprised just how far the two men’s brawl had taken them up the alley in the short time she’d delayed. Even as she watched one of the men sent the other staggering with a hard punch. Taking advantage of this he plunged his hand into his jacket and a moment later a pistol appeared in his hand. They were so engrossed in fighting each other that neither noticed Shana as she hurried up to them. They didn’t even notice as her eyes began to glow with a blue light. Or even when she raised a hand, palm out and fingers splayed, that glowed with the same light.

 

“Stop!” Shana said in a voice that seemed to echo far more than the narrowness of the alley would account for. Both men’s bodies jerked awkwardly, their fists dropping to their sides. Both of their faces went suddenly, and contentedly, blank. As she watched Shana felt a swelling of pride in her chest but also the seeds of doubt. All it would take would be one curious passer by to look into the alley for her to be discovered. Or worse if she didn’t do this right she could find herself, a woman all of 5’3”, confronting two burly men (one armed) alone in an alley. As if sensing this both men’s faces began to cloud over with anger. Feral snarls began to issue from their throats as they reached hooked fingers for the other’s throat.

 

As if from nowhere a voice suddenly sounded in the alley **“HOPE, sister Shana!”**.

 

Shana’s eyes widened momentarily before her face took on an expression of the purest determination. Squinting her eyes with effort she shoved her palm toward the two men and the blue light around them seemed to intensify, having dimmed momentarily. Stepping quickly forward Shana took the gun from the man’s limp hand and tossed it into a dumpster. With that Shana let her hand drop as she let out a gasp, fatigue suddenly flooding her body. Simultaneously both men collapsed into heaps on the pavement. Several moments later both began to stir and soon they were looking around confused.

 

“What happened?” one of them asked in a dazed voice.

 

“Your...your…” Shana said before pausing to collect her breath and continuing “...your friend fell from the fire escape and you caught him...I found you both here”.

 

“I...I...don’t remember that…” the second man said sounding bewildered.

 

“”I think you two should probably wait here until help can arrive” Shana suggested. Both men nodded weakly at this as though they simply couldn’t think of any possible alternative. Shana duly made the call to SCPD, making sure to not stay on the line long enough for her call to be traced, before suggesting to the men that they sit down which they did. She left them sitting quietly on a pair of boxes as she hurried out of the alley and on toward her apartment. A minute or so later she watched as an SCPD squad car drove past her in the opposite direction and she smiled to herself.

 

Looking up at the night sky, at where the stars were shining even if she couldn’t see them, she whispered “look to the stars…” before looking down at the blue ring on her right hand and finishing “...for hope burns bright”.

  
  
  



	2. The Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A disturbing wave of violence has Team Flash flummoxed as Kid Flash encounters Elpis for the first time.

The attack was sudden, violent, and would send shockwaves reverberating around the country. Goed Valley, population 300 (on a good day), a tiny town some forty miles south of Keystone was where it occurred. It was a crisp autumn Monday evening and a large percentage of the town’s inhabitants had squeezed themselves into the local water hole to watch the Keystone Thunderbirds take on the Gotham Rogues. It was a game heavy with playoff implications and the atmosphere must have been charged.

The bar’s grainy security camera captured all of what happened next on tape, effectively searing it into the minds of all who watched it subsequently. Sometime during the third quarter five men and women had entered the bar. They had apparently gone mostly unnoticed as as Gotham’s Edward Hines III had just returned a punt for a touchdown. The looks of annoyed disappointment on the faces of the patrons had quickly turned to ones of fear and panic as the five newcomers produced firearms and began shooting.

When the they finally stopped 57 people lay dead or injured. The attackers had then proceeded to administer coup de grace shots to all those patrons who showed any sign of life.The entire horrific event had concluded with the five attackers forming an orderly line in front of the camera and then proceeding to place their guns under their chins. After a moment of staring directly at the camera all five calmy shot themselves. 

Even to hardened law enforcement officials the cold brutality of the attack was stunning. It was made even more disturbing by the subsequent details that the investigation revealed. The five attackers were seemingly ‘normal’ people with no previous connection to each other or criminal records. To all appearances all five had simply decided that fateful monday to convene at the bar and go on a killing spree. 

As shocked and horrified as the nation had been by the attack itself it was something else that suddenly had people from coast to coast sleeping much less soundly at night. It was the randomness that had the whole nation on edge. The notion that any five random individuals might suddenly decide to do such a thing at any time was profoundly disturbing. And yet perhaps not so random after all to the man now standing in the midst of the wrecked bar.

“The spheres aren’t picking up anything too obvious” Curtis Holt told the empty room as the two mechanical devices hovered around him.

“We wouldn’t have sent you and your balls there if we thought there was something obvious to find” Felicity Smoak pointed out through the commlink in his ear.

“You too? I expected more from you” Curtis said in exasperation as the two floating spheres began a grid search pattern around the room.

“I can’t really be held accountable for your expectations of me” Felicity pointed out as she stared at the information being beamed back to the Arrowcave from Curtis’ T-spheres or as they were more colloquially known, his balls. Curtis didn’t immediately answer as one of the spheres had given a faint metallic blurting sound before being joined by it’s twin. Both devices began sweeping the floor beneath them with beams of bright blue light for several moments before emitting another string of sounds.

“Well this is interesting…”Curtis said distractedly as he studied the tablet he was holding that was displaying the same information that Felicity was seeing back in Star City.

“I would...have to agree…” Felicity answered distractedly as her eyes flew over the new readings being presented to her. As her mind grasped the potential implications of what she saw she tapped several commands into her keyboard before saying to Curtis “...get back to Central City, I think we may need some help on this one” before abruptly closing the connection between them.

“Thank you Mr. Terrific...great work” Curtis muttered to himself as he recalled his balls.

 

Cisco Ramon was brooding in what he thought of as his ‘other’ office. His true office was the one in the basement of S.T.A.R labs where team Flash, or what was left of it, worked. His office on the top floor of the building, the one he held by virtue of his position at the S.T.A.R labs museum, was simply a place he went to hide. And that was exactly what he was doing now.

After his epic verbal throwdown with Iris the two had reached an unspoken agreement to interact with each other as little as possible. This was made easier if he simply avoided the lab all together. And he knew the other members of team Flash probably welcomed this decision on his part. This knowledge did little to improve his mood however.

Even in his dark temper Cisco remained a professional and even he could only justify a few hours of brooding before he felt like he needed to do ‘something’. Standing from his desk he left the large but mostly empty office and stalked toward the elevator. It was half past nine in the morning and the museum didn’t actually open to the public for more than an hour. Despite this Cisco had still been in at seven that morning, though he’d headed straight for his office on arrival.

As the elevator doors opened Cisco shot a look around the atrium and saw that the museum staff were hard at work preparing for the day’s visitors. Though this was admittedly a good thing it also annoyed Cisco as it denied him an easy outlet for his bad mood. That was until his eyes fell on the jitters cart standing unattended in it’s usual position to the left of the door. As he exited the elevator he also saw the front doors open and the brilliantly blue hair of Shana Walker hurrying through them. Perfect, the shark had smelled his blood in the water.

Shana seemed to have not noticed him as she hurried directly over to her cart without stopping to drop either her purse or coat. Frantically she began going through the process of preparing her cart for the day’s business. Unfortunately she was trying to condense what normally took about forty minutes into less than one with predictable results. She had just knocked over a small cup of stir sticks when Cisco approached.

“WHAT time does your shift start in the morning Ms. Walker?” Cisco asked in a voice that reminded him forcibly of the first Harrison Well’s he’d known. Shana’s entire body stiffened at the sound of his voice behind her. After what felt like a long pause she turned slowly around with a smile on her face that was somehow both large and weak.

“N...nine o’clock...Mr. Ramon…” she said in a barely audible voice before trailing off.

“And what time is it?”

Shana, who was looking as guilty as sin, looked down at her feet and muttered “...nine thirty...Dr. Ramon...I’m sorry”.

“Oh well if you’re sorry then it’s all better isn’t it?” Cisco asked her harshly.

Shana’s hands slid into her pockets now as she visibly steadied herself before looking Cisco straight in the eye and saying in a stronger voice “I am sorry Dr. Ramon for being late to work this morning, it won’t happen again and I will stay late tonight to help out to make up for the time I missed”.

Shana was standing with her back to the massive windows that made up the outer wall of the atrium so it was undoubtedly a trick of the light that made Cisco think he saw a small flash emanating from her right pocket. In any case he suddenly found that his petulant desire to vent on her was diminishing. This was surprising to him since he’d been looking forward to it with all the avidity of a hungry wolf stalking a lone sheep just moments ago. Yet try though he might he simply couldn’t cling to the anger.

“Good, don’t let it happen again” Cisco said lamely before turning on his heel and stalking away.

 

Tracy Brand looked up at the sound of the doors to the Cortex opening to see who had just arrived before sighing inwardly and refocusing on her work. Now that Cisco was here she could look forward to another exceedingly awkward and impossibly long seeming day. In fact it might be even worse than all that as Iris and her father Joe were also standing in the cortex studying a large bank of monitors. With a heavy sigh Tracy was about to shut the door to her small section of the room when, to her surprise, Irish called her.

“Tracy, come look at this!” the reporter said in a tone so full of ebullient enthusiasm that it almost made Tracy smile. It had been a long time since anyone had sounded like at S.T.A.R, at least with any level of authenticity.

In recent weeks Tracy had begun to feel that she had boarded a proverbial sinking ship by joining Team Flash. When she’d first been thrust into this insane world of meta-humans and monsters the team had been in a midst of a dark time. And yet underneath it all they’d still been more than a team, they’d been a family. Since the loss of the Flash however things simply hadn’t been the same with everyone, herself included, simply going through the motions. It was enough to make her re-examine her plans to work at Big Belly Burger.

As she joined Iris and Joe at the monitors the father and daughter seemed to become aware of Cisco’s presence for the first time. Iris didn’t acknowledge him beyond a quick stare before turning back to her displays while Joe managed a slightly more cordial “Cisco”.

“Joe” and a small nod was all he got in response as Cisco sat down at his usual work station. He spent hours there everyday though none of the other members of Team Flash knew what he was working on.

“Tracy, what do you make of this?” Iris asked her as though there had been no interruption between her initial call and now.

Tracy looked up at the display for several moments before what she was looking at really registered for her. She was watching cell phone footage of a window cleaner dangling precariously high overhead, the exact height was difficult to judge due the poor quality of the video. What was clear was that one of the cables that raised and lowered the device had somehow snapped leave the three men inside clinging desperately to it’s railings. Tracy’s hands reflexively covered her mouth she saw the handing cleaner give a sudden jerk, a sure sign that the remaining cable was failing under a weight it was never designed to support.

“Oh my god!” she gasped as the remaining cable snapped sending the cleaner and all three men plummeting toward their deaths. She had half a second to wonder why on earth Iris had seemed so excited to show her this when the answer became clear. A gigantic blue hand the size of a helicopter pad suddenly shot in from off camera to catch the falling men before lowering them gently down to the ground. Whoever had been holding the camera followed them down before turning quickly in a dizzying motion the spot where the hand had come from.

For a moment Tracy couldn’t make out the source of the rescue. She’d been expecting to see some kind of gigantic blue giant, there was none to be seen. It took her several more moments to distinguish the figure that appeared to be floating high above the street. Even as the cell phone holder tried to zoom in on the figure it turned gracefully mid air and shot off down the street in the opposite direction. It did however leave something new for the camera to capture. Emblazoned mid-air in glowing blue letters of the exact same color as the hand had been was a single word: Elpis.

“Well that was…” Tracy started to say but words failed her.

“Exactly” Iris said with an excited nod.

“Well that was...impressive…” said another voice from across the room, Tracy turned to see Julian Albert standing in the main doorway “...but I still don’t see what it has to do with us”.

Iris narrowed her eyes at him as she asked “what DOESN’T it have to do with us? Meta-humans in Central City IS still what we do isn’t it?”.

“HOSTILE metas...if there is another meta around who wants to chip in then it seems like they are the least of our concerns” Julian said.

“What concerns? Wally has the city safer than ever, but a new meta means…” Iris trailed off into an awkward silence. What she’d left unsaid, and what everyone knew she’d meant, was that a new meta might mean someone who could help in their search for a way to rescue Barry from the speed force. In the days and weeks immediately after his disappearance Iris, and the rest of the team, had work feverishly to discover a way rescue Barry. They’d exhausted every scientific method they could think of and had even worked with a particularly unpleasant magician named Constantine, all to no avail. And if any member of the team had come close to matching Iris’ fervor for the project it had been Cisco.

However as time had gone by and attempt after attempt had failed frustration had set in. And as this frustration had taken root Cisco had pulled further and further away from the team. And now here they were and here was Iris proposing to tear at what little psychic scar tissue had formed. Those eyes that weren’t gazing with sad sympathy on Iris were now turned apprehensively to Cisco. Everyone watched, waiting to see what would happen, as they waited for an explosion.

To the surprise of the whole room it never came. Cisco was focusing so intently on the monitor in front of him that it seemed he hadn’t even heard the exchange. There was an awkward pause as everyone else exchanged glances. They’d all be prepared for a fit of peak, they’d grown quite used to it over the last several months, but having braced for the storm they were no unsure how to react to it not materializing. Eventually it was left to Joe to say “Cisco?”.

“Hmm?” Cisco grunted as he jerked as though startled. Looking around at the faces staring at them he blinked. When no one spoke up he was finally provoked into asking “what?” in a petulant tone.

“We were....nevermind…” Tracy said lamely.

“What are you working on mate?” Julian asked before Tracy’s silence could become even more awkward. Tracy felt a private flash of gratitude of this but didn’t let it show on her face.

“We got a data dump from Team Arrow just now with some very odd findings from that shooting in Goed Valley” Cisco said as he stood and began transferring the information on his screen to the room’s main display. He was speaking in a brisk business like manner but it marked such a change from the acerbity that had become his norm in recent months that the rest of the team again exchanged glances. Cisco didn’t notice however as he stood and began manipulating a 3D rendering of the crime scene in Goed Valley captured by the T-spheres earlier that day.

The mood in the room became understandably somber as looked at the computer reconstruction of the carnage. Even Joe, a seasoned police officer, looked troubled. Cisco was to intent on his work to notice however as he adjusted their view and focused in on a patch of the floor near the bar’s entrance. A further few commands and the view zoomed in further to reveal several small specks highlighted in a bright orange. A string of text and numbers appeared in the air next to the specks providing various details about them.

The information obviously conveyed something significant to those present with scientific backgrounds. Neither Joe nor Iris held any sort of scientific degree and thus it was left to Irish to ask “well...what does it mean?” when no one else spoke up.

“Those particulates are a kind of volcanic sand that has no business in the American midwest…” Julian put in as he stared intensely at the display.

“And…?” Joe asked when the silence had stretched for several moments.

It was Harry who answered saying “...they are showing traces of some sort of high energy radiation that the computer can’t identify”. Now everyone in the room was caught up and equally confused. 

“So what does that mean?” Iris asked, looking from person to person.

“No idea…” it was Cisco who responded as he continued to stare at the data floating in front of him. Iris looked surprised for a moment at the surprisingly civil response to her question, almost the first time they’d interacted at all since their tremendous row. If Cisco noticed he didn’t call attention to it and instead added “...that’s why Team Arrow sent it over to us, for a more detailed analysis”.

“BUT...with energy levels like that…” Harry said quietly “...we need to consider everything including both non-terrestrial and meta human sources and thus a potential tie in to this shooting”.

Iris let this sink in for a moment before her face clouded with suspicion and she asked “you don’t mean...you think Elpis did this?”.

“It’s not a possibility we can discount” Harry answered.

“This…this is crazy” Iris snapped and she grabbed her bag and coat.

“Iris-” Joe started to say but his daughter cut him off with a quick look.

“You all can waste time on this if you want, I’m going to office to see if I can track down this new meta to see if they will HELP us” Iris declared as she stormed out of the room. No one spoke for several moments before with a loud rushing sound and a cloud of scattered papers Kid Flash, aka Wally West, burst into the room. 

“Whats got her so upset?” Wally said as he pulled his cowl from his face. It was obvious he meant Iris and yet no one answered. After an excruciating pause Wally whistled softly and said “that bad huh?”.

 

Shana Walker deleted yet another text from her ex-girlfriend before sliding her phone back into her pocket. She kept her hand there though as the air was unseasonably cold today. Brushing some wisps of blue hair from her face as the wind whipped up she was just thinking about stopping for a sandwich when she heard a small pulsing sound. She stiffened as abruptly as though she’d just touched a live wire. She listened intently for a repetition of the sound when she was suddenly pushed forward.

As she stumbled she realized that she’d just come to a complete stop in the middle of a busy sidewalk. Apologizing profusely to the man she’d just caused to walk into her she ducked into a convenient parking garage and hurried toward the stairwell. Finding it unoccupied she shot a furtive glance around her before lifting her large blue ring to her mouth and whispering “yes?”.

The disembodied voice that answered her didn’t seem to emanate from the ring, which had suddenly begun to glow. In fact it seemed to come from everywhere within the stairwell at once. “Sister Shana, we must meet as soon as possible” it said. The voice echoed slightly in the stairwell but was nonetheless calm and soothing. Despite this Shana still look around nervously again before responding.

“Tonight, when I get home” she hissed.

“Contact us then” the voice boomed before cutting off abruptly as her ring’s glow slowly faded. Staring down at it Shana sighed softly to herself. Since this ring had come to her she’d found herself on an annoyingly short leash, something she’d never enjoyed. She was just exiting the parking ramp when she looked up to see several squad cars fly past her with lights flashing and sirens blaring.

“Of course that would happen right now” she muttered irritatedly to herself as she rushed back into the parking ramp.

 

“...five hostages on the second story” Cisco’s voice sounded in Wally’s ear as he raced toward the site of the bank robbery. Though the situation was certainly serious Wally wasn’t particularly concerned. He was more than capable of dealing with a handful of gun toting robbers.

“Don’t worry I got this” he said as he closed the last half mile to the bank in just under a second. Without breaking his stride Wally shot right through the glass windows to one side of the bank’s front door. He could hear Iris shouting something in his ear but he didn’t have any spare attention to devote to her as he proceeded to flit between the three men on the ground floor of the bank carrying weapons. Faster than the average human could blink he’d disarmed and incapacitated each man. 

Wally was about to rush up the stairs to finish the job when something Iris was say, or shouting rather, finally made it through. “Damn it Wally you just triggered the bombs!” his sister shouted in an angry voice tinged with hysteria.  
]  
“What bomb?” He asked as he came to a halt.

“All the windows and doors were rigged with bombs, the second someone came their countdown began. You now have less than twenty seconds to get EVERYONE out of that building before it explodes” Cisco’s voice interjected into the channel.

“Shit!” Wally said as he wasted several seconds looking around him, as though he expected to see a neat stack of bombs in the corner.

“Get everyone out of there!” Iris shouted into their commlink. Wally didn’t need telling twice, in less than ten seconds he had incapacitated the remaining robbers. Three seconds later he had moved all the robbers and the hostages out onto the street. He was just about to head back in when the bank exploded. As a speedster Wally perceived events at a significantly faster rate than most human beings. He saw the wall of flame and debris flying outward toward him and the rest of the people on the street at roughly half normal speed. Of course this represented no threat to him but look around the street he realized he’d made a terrible mistake. He could certainly get away but he’d never be able to clear EVERYONE off the street before the explosion hit them. 

He was just about to try and grab as many people as he could when a blue dome blossomed over into life over the heads of the gathered law enforcement personnel and onlookers. Wally stared dumbfounded as explosion met the dome and was forced upward and sideways, leaving the people within the dome unscathed. Wally zipped to one side of the explosion and looked around. Moments later he looked up to see a solitary figure floating about fifty feet in the air, and army extended. The blue energy that seemed to make up the dome appeared to be emanating from the figures hand.

Looking on in awe Wally watched as the blue energy field vanished as the explosion burned itself out. As it did Wally looked back to where the figure had been hovering only to see it shooting off into the sky. “Hey wait!” he shouted as he took off after the mysterious figure. Whoever or whatever he was dealing with it was fast as he had to really push himself to keep pace as he sprinted along the surface of first one building and then another.

He was so intent on his quarry that when it suddenly came to an abrupt stop he lost his balance on the windows of an office high rise and went tumbling into the air. He was just bracing for a very painful landing when he found his fall suddenly checked. Cracking an eye open he found himself in a bubble made of the same blue energy he’d seen at the bank. Pressing against it experimentally he found it completely unyielding. Helpless, he waited for the bubble to deposit him on the roof of a nearby building where he found himself facing the same figure that had intervened at the bank.

It seemed obvious that he was dealing with another human being, and a woman more specifically. Her outfit consisted of a black and blue leotard, high black boots and gloves, some kind of lower face wrap, and a heavy looking blue hooded cloak. In the little space left exposed between her mask and hood Wally say eyes glowing the same blue color as the energy she seemed to be able to produce at whim. Neither Wally nor the woman spoke as she hovered in the air a few feet from the edge of the building.

“Thanks for the help back there” Wally finally said.

“Don’t mention it” the woman responded, her voice had a odd staggered quality to it as though she was saying each word three times in a slightly staggered order. 

“Who are you” Wally asked as he spread his palms.

The woman seemed to consider this question for several moments. Her glowing blue eyes gazing directly into Wally’s brown ones. Finally she said simply “Elpis” before shooting straight upward at a speed Wally knew he would struggle to match.

This left Wally feeling somewhat dumbfounded as he stood on the rooftop for several minutes. Finally he became aware of a buzzing in his ear, a buzzing that he realized was the rest of team Flash trying to reach him. Sighing he tapped his ear piece once and said “I’m here”.

“Where in the hell have you been!” Iris’ voice practically screamed into his ear.

“Well about that…” Wally began.

 

A few minutes after the incident at the bank Shana looked around carefully before quickly opening the door to her apartment and slipping inside. Her stomach was rumbling as she hadn’t eaten all day and she was just thinking of ordering some food when she turned and almost jumped out of her shoes. Sitting in the cramped living room of her apartment were two aliens. There was no other word to describe them.

The smaller of the pair was roughly the same shape as a human though with major differences. His skin was a greyish white and his eyes were large orbs of pure black. His head was tapered into a long fleshy tail that hung down to his lower back like hair. He was just about six feet tall with a slim almost delicate build. His name was Saint Walker and he was, in many ways, the only real father figure Shana had ever had. His companion couldn’t have appeared more different at first glance. Standing almost twelve feet tall, and pushing five and a half feet in circumference it was a real effort for him to fit into her tiny apartment. Physically he resembled nothing so much as a humanoid elephant with a short trunk. His name was Warth.

Both aliens were clan in skin tight suits that forcibly reminded Shana of a zentai suit. Everytime she thought about this it made her snicker softly though today she was able to control it almost before she started. If either of her guests noticed they chose not to comment. Like Shana each alien wore a large blue ring on their right hand. 

“Fellas…” Shana said in a half hesitant half mocking tone before casting a theatrical glance around her apartment “...both of you at one time? I’m either in trouble or...please give me an alternative”. As always both of them appeared entirely immune to to her wit. Warth continued to sit hunched over with his eyes closed, completely still, while Saint Walker just smiled indulgently. 

“Sister Shana, it’s always so pleasant to see you” he said in a warm voice.

Shana bit her lip before finally saying “...brother Walker”. She often felt awkward using the honorific. But, as ever, Walker’s fatherly demeanor managed to drive Shana to do something that no amount of scolding could have.

“We have been observing your actions with a great deal of interest” Brother Warth put in without opening his eyes.

“Hmm...can’t have made for very interesting viewing” Shana muttered.

“On the contrary Sister Shana...” Saint Walker said with a raised finger “...we have been enthralled watching you”.

“I know you’re not from around here…” Shana said as she walked over to her fridge and pulled it open “...but that sort of comment to a woman comes off as very creepy on Earth”. She signed as she stared at the tub of butter, bottle of ketchup, two cans of diet soder, and single apple that made up the entire contents of her fridge.

“There have been some concerns on Odym about how...public you’ve made yourself and your abilities recently...” Saint Walker said after a short paused before letting his face break into a broad grin and adding “...though speaking personally I must say I have been very proud of the good you’ve managed to do Sister Shana”. Shana was profoundly grateful her face was buried in her nearly empty refrigerator at this moment as her face was now the same shade as her solitary apple. 

“Thanks” she muttered.

“However…” Saint Walker added in a tone that made Shana certain he was holding up an admonitory finger “...Brother Ganthet and Sister Sayd have asked us to remind you of your primary mission here on earth”. Finally giving up her struggle against fate Shana snagged one of her cans of soder and paired with a hershey bar from her freezer before walking into the living room and perching on the arm of her couch.

“Did you think I forgot” she asked as she tore at the wrapper of her candy.

“No…” Saint Walker said in tentatively before adding “...but it was felt that you might be allowing yourself to become diverted with your heroic endeavors”.

“Is that so?” is what Shana meant to say but it came out as a muffled garble as her mouth was full of soda and chocolate. 

Rather than acknowledge her rudeness Warth said “and there is the fact that recently made contact with the speedster”. Shana bit her lip, she hadn’t actually mean for this to happen. She’d underestimated just how fast Kid Flash would be, and when he’d slipped she simply couldn’t have just let him fall. 

“What else was I supposed to do? Let Kid Flash die in front of me?” she asked, sounding much more defensive than she’d meant to.

“Of course not...” Saint Walker said soothingly “...but it is something that now needs to be addressed”.

“What? Do you think that KID FLASH would seriously try to stop what I’m doing?” Shana asked incredulously.

“Impossible to say isn’t it?” Brother Warth asked from where he sat.

“No! It isn’t, he’s a hero!” Shana growled. She didn’t know why she was defending Kid Flash so vehemently. Sure she knew as much as anyone about the good he’d done in Central City but she didn’t really know him. But for some reason Warth’s oh so cool suggestion that the protector of Central City might be a threat had rankled her. 

“Peace sister Shana…” Saint Walker said as he raised a hand encased in a soft blue glow that seemed to radiate from his ring.

“Hey! That’s not fair!” Shane protested, in vain, as she felt the peak draining from her as quickly as it had flared into existence. One of the abilities of their blue rings was to ‘cool’ the anger within another person. Shana had used it to great effect on many occasions but it was oddly galling to have it used on her.

“This...Kid Flash is ultimately little more than a distraction...” Brother Warth put in “...it must remain your priority to find whoever has been selected to be this planet’s Green Lantern and then learn why they have chosen to conceal themselves”. 

“They will be critical in the coming crisis” Saint Walker put in solemnly.

“I know I know” Shana said in a half sulking tone. Ever since her ring had come to her most of her life had been devoted in some way or another to finding this mysterious Green Lantern. It had been one of the primary reasons she’d relocated to Central City. And while she understood the importance of what she was doing, and was honored that of all the beings in the universe she’d be selected for this duty, she couldn’t help but feel...unwanted. It could be trying to live your entire life devoted to the task of finding someone else. To feel constantly as though you were simply a means to an end.

“Peace sister Shana” Saint Walker said softly. They had discussed this very issue more than once. Her mentor always managed to leave her feeling better afterword, but it was never quite enough to make the feeling go away entirely.

“Something dark is coming Sister Shana, the time is coming when we will need all the allies we can find” Brother Warth said. A thought occurred to Shana then and she asked “...what about Kid Flash?”. Saint Walker and Brother Warth looked at each other at this for several moments. Neither of them spoke for several moments though something silent obviously passed between them.

Finally Saint Walker looked over at Shana and said simply “find him too”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well it took a bit longer than I'd have hoped but I finally have chapter 2 up. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did writing it. If you do please check out some of my other stuff!


	3. Chapter 3: The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kid Flash and Elpis commence an uneasy working relationship as a new player enters the game.

For many of the Central City citizens crowded into the branch of the Central City Credit Union the day had, no doubt, been unremarkable. They were the same collection of people one always found in a bank. Bored people, confused people, anxious people, and of course the impatient ones. None of them had entered the credit union expecting to become part of their very own crime drama. And yet that was the exact situation they found themselves in when the group of armed and masked men burst through the front doors.

 

The lone security card on duty was quickly dispatched as the leader drove the stock of his weapon into his face. As one of his companions relieved the whimpering man of his sidearm the leader grabbed a terrified young woman from where she’d been standing and dragged her to his side as he jammed the muzzle of his weapon against her neck. It was a strangely anachronistic weapon, a thompson submachine gun straight out of a gangster movie. Still no one seemed ready to test his capabilities and the man’s companions were all carrying very modern looking artillery.

 

“You’ve all watched TV, you know the drill…” the man shouted at the quavering customers. The young woman in his grasp was whimpering piteously as tears ran down her face and her eyes shot around her. She and her captor advanced forward as the man continued “...down on the ground, hands on your heads and no stupid heroics”. As his companions began methodically ransacking the cash drawers he looked down at the young woman and brushed a strand of blonde hair from her face, a gesture that she cringed away from. “What’s your name sweetheart?” he asked in a voice that was bothy gruff and mocking.

 

“E..E...Ellie” she whimpered as tears continued to pour down her face.

 

“Now you see? None of you fine people wants to see Ellie’s cute brains splattered all over this place do you? Of course not and you won’t have to if you all do what you’re told” the leader shouted. Ellie buried her head in her hands and turned as far away from him as she could. The leader sneered down at her before shouting to his men “would you all hurry this up!.

 

“Almost done boss!” one of his mean shouted before giving a loud grunt of pain and surprise. This was followed by a loud rushing sound and more grunts of pain as a powerful wind seemed to brew up in the credit union.

 

“Here we go…” the leader muttered as he hefted his weapon and tugged Ellie closer to his body. As he did a voice suddenly sounded behind him.

 

“No masks and no escape car...I gotta ask are you even TRYING to rob this place” Kid Flash said as he leaned casually on against a cubicle wall. The leader responded by spinning quickly, always keeping Ellie in front of him, and spraying a hail of bullets at the hero. Or at least where he had been. Before he’d completed his rotation Kid Flash was gone and a moment later the would be robber found himself on the ground without his gun and an angry speedster standing over him.

 

“You think you’re hot shit don’t you kid?” the man said as he rubbed his jaw.

 

“Yeah I’d say so…” Kid Flash said in the curiously distorted voice the speedsters seemed to have. Ellie had someone found herself standing halfway across the room and was looking around dazedly as Kid Flash continued “...this is neat”. There was another rushing sound and suddenly he was holding the downed man’s weapon and looking at it curiously. “Bit of a throwback though” he added as though to himself.

 

“I’m a purist what can I say…” the leader of the robbers said as he got to a sitting position “...and I’ll take it back now thanks”.

 

Kid Flash snorted and said “yeah I’m sure”.

 

“So am I you little punk…” the robber said with a triumphant sneer on his face “...see while you’re talking to me there a two bombs tick tick ticking away somewhere in the city...oh and CROWDED places too”. Kid Flash’s mouth fell open but when he didn’t speak the robber laughed darkly and added “...oh and it’s linked to my heart rate so you won’t want to be knocking me out either”.

 

“Don’t need to knock you out to put you in cuffs” Kid Flash growled in response.

 

“No...but I forgot to mention...my guys over there...the ones you just knocked out...each one you put down knocked another minute off the clock” the man grinned as he said this with a smile of horrific triumph.

 

“Where are they!” Kid Flash barked down at him.

 

The man laughed once hoarsely before saying “OK...I’ll tell you...if only so it hurts more when you fail. Ones in Central Park and the other’s at Central Station...you can’t get to both”. His words cut off there as at invisibly fast speeds he suddenly found himself handcuffed to the door having been punched once more in the stomach. Kid Flash was about to...do something, he wasn’t sure what, when he heard a familiar voice from above him.

 

“Need some help?” Elpis said in her curiously echoey voice as she ascended slowly from the sky, shrouded in her glowing blue light.

 

Kid Flash aka Wally West, didn’t hesitation, without preamble he blurted “there are bombs about to go off at both Central Station and Central Park, we need to get everyone out of there and FAST!”.

 

It was difficult to read body language in someone floating in midair but Elpis’ glowing blue eyes widened behind her face wrap as she asked “what?”.

 

Wally let out a frustrated growl as he turned toward the direction the train station “get to the park and SAVE PEOPLE” he shouted as he disappeared in a blur.

 

***

 

“Nice work Shana realllll smart” Shana Walker muttered to herself as she raced through the air high above the streets of Central City. She was cursing herself for involving herself in this situation at all. 

 

She’d thought she’d be so smooth and just slowly hover down and casually ask “need help?” and everything would work out. And now here she was having to somehow rescue everyone in Central Park from a bomb. And it really would have to be everyone since she would have no idea how to go about disarming a bomb even if she could find it. That thought actually gave her an idea however.

 

“Umm...ring?...” she said tentatively knowing the ring would pick up her words clearly even over the rush if the air around her “...hello?”. She always felt weird talking to a piece of jewellery even though she knew full well it was far more than a bauble.

 

“Blue Lantern Shana Walker voice print recognized” came a small but nonetheless clear voice into her ear. Shana always thought her ring sounded like a much more grown up Alexa or Siri. And oddly it’s accent was British.

 

“Uh...ring?...” even after all her time with the ring she was still unsure how to address the ring “...can you...can you locate a bomb for me?”.

 

After only a moment's pause the ring answered her cooly saying “there are presently nine explosive devices within a fifteen mile radius Lantern Walker, nine are inactive,  four are not yet complete, and two are active”.

 

“Well that’s disturbing…” Shana muttered to herself, resolving to look into the other bombs before adding “...is there one in central park?”.

 

Another minute pause before the ring said “there is currently one active explosive device in Central City’s Central Park, it is located the northwest quadrant underneath a gazebo”. Shana thought furiously as the park came into view ahead. She’d wasn’t worried about finding the place, these things were easier from the air, but she was still unclear about how she would get everyone out of the park. She thought about trying to use her ring to lift everyone in the park into the air and setting them down elsewhere but she discarded that idea. She doubted she could do it in any case and with a ring that was literally powered by hope those sort of doubts WOULD make it impossible.

 

A moment later she was hovering over the gazebo and entirely out of ideas. She cast a look around and saw many people staring up at her in amazement. Some were pointing and of course almost everyone had their phone out. She thought about using her ring to amplify her voice and tell them all the run but decided that would cause a stampede that might kill someone. No matter how furiously she urged it on however he mind seemed unable to generate any sort of plan of action. 

 

“Ring! How long before the bomb goes off” she asked desperately.

 

“The device will detonate in 43 seconds” her ring informed as calmly as though she’d asked for a forecast.

 

“Oh come on!” she whined hopelessly as she looked around wildly once more. In the end she acted on instinct and created an enormous blue energy construct of a hand that she used to literally rip the gazebo out of the ground and push it aside. Once the dust had cleared Shana glaced around in a panic and saw something that sure looked like a bomb that had been concealed inside the lattice around the gazebos base. With only seconds to react she formed a solid bowl of bright blue hope energy over the bomb and pressed down with all the might her hope could give her.

 

Moments later there was a muffled and yet extremely loud thumping sound that seemed to echo around the park for several long seconds. Shana, who had squeezed her eyes shut, cracked on open tentatively. When she did and surveyed the scene she slumped in relief in mid air. Several people were running toward park exits, but the panic didn’t seem widespread. The blast seemed to have knocked several people off their feet but no one seemed injured, just shaken. Shana kept her blue dome in place for several seconds longer before raising her hand and allowing it to fade. As it vanished it revealed a deep crater in the earth where the bomb had detonated. Smoke began billowing from the hole and some small flames flickered at the bottom but on the whole there had been no harm done.

 

“I knew that would work” Shana said softly to herself. And despite how hollow the worlds would seem to anyone else she meant it. Even in her desperation she’d known to a certainty in the back of her mind that her plan WOULD work. If she hadn’t the her ring wouldn’t have operated properly and she probably would have failed.

 

A sudden sound below her drew Shana’s attention downward. For a moment she she couldn’t understand what she was hearing. It took several moments for her to realize what she was hearing. It was applause. The people below her were applauding her, cheering loudly, even whistling. Behind her face wrap Shana found herself beaming and blushing in equal measure. She raised her hand in a tentative wave and when this brought renewed and louder cheering she waved once more with more enthusiasm. She basked in the applause for several moments before turning slowly in midair and then flying in a slow backward somersault and shooting off across the park. Before she did though she made sure to leave her trademark, glowing blue letters spelling ‘Elpis’ in midair.

 

As she flew down a busy street she saw a yellow and orange tangle of lightning racing along under her and she flew abruptly upward to alight on top of a nearby skyscraper. Less than a second later she found herself standing a few feet away from Kid Flash himself. They both stared at each for several seconds, neither one speaking. Eventually however Kid Flash said “that...was pretty awesome”.

 

“Oh...well...thank you…” Shana said awkwardly. Somehow she’d been expecting something much more formal in tone. Then feeling she should add something more she said “and I’m sure whatever you did was also...uh...awesome”.

 

To her surprise Kid Flash rubbed the back of his neck at this and said in a hesitant tone “yeah….I got everyone out but....”. He trailed off and looked absolutely shamsaid e faced as he pointed in the general direction of Central Station. Shana followed his gesture and was shocked to see a roiling black cloud of smoke issuing from the area.

 

“Oh…” Shana said before quickly adding “...but the important thing is that you got everyone out and that no one died”.

 

“Yeah...thanks…” Kid Flash said, still sound abashed. There was another awkward pause before he added “...and I’m glad we finally get to speak like this”.

 

“Me too…” Shana said with a weak smile that she only belatedly realized he couldn’t see behind her wrap. Somehow talking to this man was like the worst first date from hell.

 

“Well if you’d like I can introduce you to the rest of my team…” Kid Flash said with a weak wave of his hand.

 

“You have a team?” Shana asked interestedly.

 

“Don’t you?” he asked in turn.

 

“That’s...really complicated” Shana answered lamely. 

 

“OK...but would still like to meet mine?” Kid Flash asked.

 

“Oh...yes please...it’s just…” Shana said before trailing off. She’d been about to say ‘I’m late to work’ but somehow it seemed like the wrong thing to say. Sighing and resigning herself to a weekend spent job hunting after Doctor Ramon fired her for being late again she nodded once and said “...let's do it”.

  
  


The events that followed their stunted conversation on the rooftop were enough to have Shana’s head spinning. In less than half hour she learned that not only was Kid Flash based out of the place she worked but that he also had an enormous secret lab underneath the place. It was an odd experience to be ushered secretly into a place she visited six days a week. After an uncomfortably silent elevator ride she and Kid Flash walked into a large circular room.

 

To Shana’s surprise she found that there were several people already waiting there, all of whom seemed very surprised to see her. In fact ‘surprised’ was an understatement, panicked was closer to the mark. An attractive woman in a white blouse and a burgundy skirt looked quickly between Shana and Kid Flash and asked in a would be calm voice “uh...Kid Flash...who is this?”.

 

“Don’t worry shes on our side” Kid Flash said with raised placatory palms. 

 

“Maybe so...but you brought her here...to see all of us” said an older man who looked so much like the first woman that Shana suspected he was her father.

 

“We could use the backup, I think we all saw that today-” Kid Flash started to say before he was cut off by a third voice from behind him.

 

“Kid Flash what on all the earths were thinking? We know nothing about this person and you brought her here and in the process revealed all of our identities” said a man wearing glasses with a professorial air. His voice was soft and he didn’t sound particularly upset but the tone of olympian disapproval was unmistakable. 

 

“Hey I just thought-” Kid Flash said sounding much less certain now. Truth be told Shana herself was starting to feel very uncomfortable but she decided to remain silent for now.

 

“Did you though?” The man in glasses cut in quietly but with an smothering authority.

 

“I know...that I for one would like to be asked before we let anyone else know about this aspect of my life” said a tall blonde woman who had come to stand next to the man in glasses. She didn’t sound annoyed or commanding but instead intensely nervous.

 

“I-” Kid Flash tried to speak again but this time it was Shana who cut him off.

 

“If you would like me to leave then I am happy to” she said trying to sound cool and authoritative rather than awkward. It was hard to judge with the way her ring was distorting her voice but at least everyone seemed to be paying attention.

 

“It’s not that simple ma’am…” said the man in glasses “...now that you’ve been here and seen us we need to come to some sort of understanding.

 

“Whoa...” said the first man the one who Shana now saw was wearing a police badge on his belt “...lets all take a step back”.

 

“I’m sorry detective but it’s simply a matter of practicality, this woman now knows the appearances of all the members of Team Flash and that knowledge HAS to be protected” the man in glasses responded.

 

“So I’m a prisoner now” Shana asked, her voice tight.

 

“No of course not” the first woman said quickly.

 

“Only if you demonstrate that you need to be” said the man in Glasses.

 

“Hey! Relax” the police officer said. Though as Shana reflected she realized that his plain clothes meant he had to be a detective. 

 

“We need to listen to what Harry is saying…” said the blonde woman before she almost melted under the sharp glance the man sent her way. Even Shana realized the mistake the blonde woman had just made though the name by itself didn’t really mean anything it was obvious that her teammates were annoyed with her. Composing herself the blonde woman continued “...we need to be sure our secret is safe”.

 

“See that makes it seem like I AM a prisoner…” Shana put in.

 

“No you’re not” the detective said loudly.

 

“Joe!” the blonde woman said, a tinge of hysteria in her voice.

 

“Everyone stop!” the detective’s daughter shouted. The other people in the room fell silent as looked around at each. When it became clear that no one was going to speak she walked over to wear Shana was hovering and extended her hand saying “...I’m Iris West I work at CCPN”.

 

“Pleasure…” Shana said slowly, still looking around the room at the faces of the others. She saw suspicion, reservation, and even what might have been fear. Before she could say more the detective stepped forward.

 

“Detective Joe West, CCPD” he said. He had a firm grip and calm eyes that nonetheless gave Shana the impression that he was studying her intently. Shana nodded at him but didn’t say anything so as he turned to looked around at the other people in the room. When no one spoke he made an impatient gesture and asked “well?”.

 

There were several hesitant glances exchanged before the man in glasses stepped forward without offering his hand and said “Harrison Wells”. 

 

Shana’s eyes must have widened at this because Iris quickly said “not THAT Harrison Wells, it’s very hard to explain…”.

 

“Don’t worry about it I’m used to that sort of thing…” Shana said dryly. Then she saw how Iris’ eyes flashed at this and she kicked herself internally. Iris was a journalist and she’d just given her some potentially useful information. Fortunately the pause didn’t last long enough to become awkward as the blonde woman through her hands into the air and stalked form the room.

 

“That was Tracy Brand…” Iris explained “...she’s really brilliant but kind of new to this stuff” she finished as she waved at the room around them. 

 

Shana had to restrain herself from saying something like ‘she and I both’ and instead turned to Kid Flash asking “and you?”.

 

Kid Flash exchanged a glance with both Iris and Joe before looking back at Shana and saying “I’ll tell you if you tell me”.

 

Shana hesitated before saying “I....can’t do that”.

 

“Why not?” Joe asked in a voice now tinged with suspicion. 

 

“Because…” Shana started to say before biting her lip. She conducted a short but intense internal debate before finishing “...it’s...not entirely my secret to share”.

 

“Your OWN identity…” Joe asked, now sounding much more than a little suspicious.

 

“It’s...complicated…” Shana said lamely. It was, sadly, the only thing she could say. One of the first things she’d been told after she’d received her ring was that the existence of the Blue Lantern Corps was a secret she must only reveal under the most dire of circumstances. It was obvious that by ‘identity’ Joe, Iris, and the others also wanted to know how she was able to do what she did. And so Shana was left in her current awkward predicament.

 

“I’m sure you understand why that answer would make us uncomfortable…” Joe said evenly but with the slightest hint of an edge in his voice.

 

“I do, I really do...it’s just…” Shana stammered before she had an idea. Brightening she turned back to Iris and asked “...if you give me just a moment I might be able to help you more”. 

 

Looking nonplussed Iris waved a hand toward the door Shana had entered through and said “of course”.

  
  


As Elpis floated a few feet away from where she had been hovering Iris turned to her dad and whispered “what do you think?”.

 

Her father looked after Elpis for several moments before saying “there is definitely something weird going on here baby girl but I don’t get the feeling that she’s a bad guy”. Iris nodded slowly at this, her father had just stated more or less what she had been thinking.

 

“That’s all very well detective but it doesn’t change the fact that Iris’ decision to open introductions was an extremely risky move that the rest of the team should have been consulted on first” Harry said as he joined them from where he’d been sitting.

 

Iris narrowed her eyes at him as she hissed “It was a risk that someone needed to take! You’ve seen what she can do, did you really want to push her into a situation where she might feel threatened!”.

 

“Uh guys” Wally put in surprising both Iris and Harry. In response to their impatient glances he jerked his thumb over his shoulder and asked in a whisper “what’s going on over there?”. Eight eyes swiveled to where Elpis was still hovering to watch as the woman floated with her head bent low over her raised fist. It looked for all the world like she was having a heated conversation with her fist.

 

“I have no idea…” Joe said in obvious confusion. Rather than gape with the rest of the group Harry hurried back to his work station and began typing furiously. 

 

Iris hurried after him and after looking over his shoulder for several moments Iris asked “can you tell us anything?”.

 

Harry didn’t speak at first but eventually leaned back slightly in his chair and said in a voice of equal parts wonder and frustration “beyond the fact that some sort of signal, a signal I might add that is easily bypassing this building’s scramblers, is reaching her and that she’s sending something similar back I have no idea Ms West...the computer doesn’t even recognize the sort of energy that it’s being conveyed on”.

 

“Hope” said a voice, interrupting their whispered conversation causing them all to jump and look as guilty as children caught spying on an adult conversation. It was Elpis of course, hovering on spot where she’d been introduced to Iris and Joe.

 

Harry recovered first and asked “excuse me?”.

 

“The energy form you are detecting, the one that powers this…” she said as she held up her first to display her blue ring “...it’s a physical manifestation of hope...you know the emotion”. Harry blinked at this pronouncement but seemed to have lost his ability to speak.

 

“Your...ring...is powered by hope?” Iris asked with the air of someone trying desperately to inject sanity back into a conversation.

 

“Yes, and my ring is the source of all my powers...well it’s the thing that allows me to channel the source of my powers which, again, hope” Elpis said.

 

“I see…” Iris said with a voice that conveyed the exact opposite impression.

 

“Look I know how disney the whole thing sounds...” Elpis said as she held up her hands “...but I’m just telling you what I know and have been told”.

 

“Told by whom?” Harry asked, finding his voice once more.

 

“My…my boss…” Elpis said in the same hopeless tone she’d been using since she arrived with Wally.

 

“Your boss?” Joe asked.

 

“Yeah...well that's how I think of him...though I guess I also don’t know for certain that he is a ‘him’” Elpis said unhelpfully.

 

“This really isn’t helping make things clearer” Iris put in.

 

Elpis sigh and her shoulders slumped before she said in a quieter almost defeated voice “...look I do realize how this sounds, I didn’t believe it either when I first learned all of this. But I just asked my...my boss and I will share everything I can and do my best to answer any questions you have”.

 

Iris and Wally exchanged glances before Wally asked “including your name?”.

 

Elpis hesitated before saying “I will keep that information for now…”.

 

Harry pursed his lips at this and Joe’s eyes narrowed at this but Iris said “what WILL you tell us then?”.

 

“I’ll do one better and I’ll SHOW you” Eplis said as she raised her fist again. Joe and Wally tensed but Elpis didn’t seem to notice as the air in front of them was suddenly filled with a semi-transparent azure energy. Iris’ mouth fell open as the energy began to resolve itself into the shapes of strange figures and places.

 

“How…?” Wally asked in amazement.

 

“Hope” Elpis said simply. With that she launched into a long explanation that began at the beginning of the universe most of which made little sense to her audience. Iris looked at her father, brother, and at Harry as Elpis explained about the existence of a group of aliens known as ‘the Guardians of the Universe’ and an intergalactic police force known as the green lantern corps. The looks she received in response told her that none of her companions were making much more sense of the story than she was.

 

They did however pay closer attention when Elpis began explaining about an event she called ‘the blackest night’ and the foundation of the blue lantern corps, a group she was apparently a part of. As Elpis spoke her words were matched by the moving blue figures in the air as though she were the show’s narrator. Eventually she wound down her story by explaining that she was one of the first lanterns of any color in Earth’s history though possibly not THE first. 

 

“...And so it is very important that I find whoever is Earth’s Green Lantern and soon. Because IF the leaders of my Corps have read the signs right then the Blackest Night is closer than ever and if Earth is going to survive it will NEED it’s lantern” Elpis finally concluded as the blue images faded from the air.

 

No one spoke for some time before Wally asked “...but wait aren’t you a lantern?”.

 

“I’m a BLUE lantern, I’m looking for a GREEN lantern” Elpis explained patiently. 

 

“Right...and the GREEN lanterns are the ones who are...space cops?” Joe asked.

 

“Yes” Elpis answered. It was hard to tell behind her face wrap but she seemed to be smiling at Joe’s grasp of the situation.

 

“But you seem to be PLENTY powerful...” Iris put in “...why couldn’t a blue lantern be the one who protects earth from this...blackest night?”.

 

Elpis was shaking her head as she answered “what I’ve been doing around central city is my ring operating at about 10% of it’s true power, for a blue power ring to operate at peak efficiency it needs to be in close proximity to a green ring”.

 

“Why?” Wally asked.

 

“Because hope on it’s own isn’t nearly as powerful as hope combined with willpower” Elpis responded with the air of someone explaining that two and two made four.

 

“Willpower...which is what powers the...green rings?” Joe asked tentatively.

 

“Yes!” Elpis really did sound pleased.

 

“And it’s just blue and green?” Joe asked in a voice that made it very clear that he very much hoped this would be the case.

 

“Well..no...there are at least five that I know of anyway” Elpis said.

 

Joe looked as though he had no idea how to respond to this pronouncement so it was up to Harry to ask “and you want our help in finding this...green lantern”?.

 

“Yes...and in exchange I’d be happy to help you if I can” Elpis answered. Kid Flash made an excited gesture at this but was cut off by a sharp look from Harry.

 

“And what exactly would that entail?” he asked.

 

Elpis looked taken aback by the question but said “well...like today I guess...at the bank and with the bomb in central park”.” 

 

“...With no way to contact you and without knowing who you are how would we be able to coordinate with you?” Harry asked cooly. Elpis held up her ring and at a word a shimmering blue representation of Central City appeared in the air rotating slowly. 

 

“My ring can direct me to any potential problems in the city, that's how I knew about what was going on at the bank” Elpis said. She was looking at Harry as though she was hoping he’d applaud her for this revelation but if he was she never learned it.

 

“Hey...this is police headquarters...” Joe said as he lifted a finger and indicated an area that was blinking rapidly in contrast to the serene sections around it “...whats going on?”.

 

Harry moved rapidly toward his work station once more but before he could even reach his chair a cool voice emanated from Elpis’ ring “detecting chemically based projectile weapon discharges in this structure”. 

 

As everyone else present exchanged alarmed glances Joe stepped up to where Elpis was floating and said “...I don’t know if I believe your stories about space cops and ancient prophecies but I HAVE seen you do amazing things and I do believe you’re on our side…” he reached out and put a hand on her shoulder here and finished “...we can sort everything else out later but for now will you go with Kid Flash and help sort this mess out?”. Elpis nodded solemnly at this and seemed about to turn and leave but was stopped short by Harry who tossed a small circular metal object at her. 

 

“It’s a combination earpiece and microphone, it will allow those of us without an alien power ring to coordinate with you” he said simply.

 

“Thanks” Elpis said as she slid a hand inside her hood to insert the earpiece. As she did, for the briefest of moments, a strand of blue hair was visible. Almost before it appeared it was gone as she and Kid Flash rushed from the room, one blur of yellow and red and another of purest blue.

 

The room was silent for several moments before Harry spoke again say “I really hope you know what you were doing detective”.

 

“Don’t worry…” Joe said as he walked slowly over to another computer and tapped several commands into it’s keyboard “...I do”. Turning the screen toward Harry and Iris they saw that it displayed not only the usual blinking dot that indicated the location of Kid Flash but another blinking dot travelling slightly slower but almost immediately behind.

  
  


Of all the things she could possibly have been thinking about as she and Kid Flash raced toward the Central City Police HQ Shana Walker was reflecting on how much job hunting sucked. She’d been reflecting on this since she’d realized that she’d completely missed her shift this morning with all the excitement. She’d cheated a bit and used her ring to calm Doctor Ramon the last time he’d be upset with her but she doubted anything less that hitting him with a full power blast would be enough to save her job now. Sighing to herself she started slightly as an unfamiliar voice sounded in her ear.

 

“Iris to Elpis, are you receiving?” came the reporters voice, surprisingly clear given the noise of the air rushing past her as she flew.

 

“Can you hear me?” Shana asked tentatively.

 

“Loud and clear…” Iris West said before pausing slightly and saying “...Kid Flash is also on this channel”.

 

“Can you tell us anything else about what’s happening?” Kid Flash’s voice crackled over the channel.

 

It was the detective’s voice that answered, full of rigidly suppressed concern “...it’s a hostage situation involving one of the civilians from the bank earlier today...a woman named Ellie”.

 

“Wow...she’s having some day” Kid Flash said wryly. 

 

“Cut the jokes and get moving before someone gets killed down there!” Joe West’s voice was now uncomfortably loud in Shana’s ear. Less than a minute later she and Kid Flash came to abrupt stops in front of the CCPD HQ building. 

 

“Got any ideas?” Kid Flash asked her in a voice she would have sworn was nervous. Did he get nervous? The idea was unsettling to her.

 

“Umm...I thought we’d just go in through the front door?” Shana suggested.

 

“Head on...I like it” he said with a grin, if he’d been or was nervous there was no trace of it left on his face or in his voice. At that moment they both looked over sharply as an upper story window suddenly shattered outward. Even over the sound of breaking glass they heard the sound of several gunshots.

 

“Meet you in there” Kid Flash said before vanishing. Setting her Jaw Shana formed her forcefield around herself and shot upward until she was hovering just outside the window that had just been shot out. The moment she did she flinched horribly as several more bullets ripped out of the opening at her. Despite the fact that she knew no ordinary gun could harm her when protected by her forcefield she still found it scary to be shot at. 

 

After several more shots slapped against her forcefield to no effect she projected her voice the man shooting out at her saying “you can go ahead and keep shooting if you like but it’s not going to work any better as you go on”. She noted with concern that he was wearing a police uniform and with even more distress that he was holding a blonde woman in front of him like a shield.

 

“Stay back!” the cop shouted as he spun back around to face the room he was standing in, jerking the woman around in the process. Shana ignored him and closed her eyes, allowing her ring to guide her consciousness toward the man holding the gun. Almost immediately her eyes shot back open.

 

“It’s not him!” she yelped to no one in particular. She often did this, speaking to herself, but this time a voice responded to her.

 

“What do you mean?” Iris’ voice snapped in her ear.

 

Taking a moment to recover from the unusual circumstance of having someone to listen to her when she spoke Shana answered “the man holding her...the cop-...”.

 

“We don’t know that he’s a cop” Joe put in.

 

“-he’s...he’s not in control at the moment” Shana continued as though she hadn’t been interrupted. She sounded only about half as perplexed as she was. Her ring allowed her a perfect understanding of another being’s emotional state, it even worked on animals. It wasn’t so much concrete information as a rock solid intuition. In this circumstance she would have expected the man’s emotions to be a bright flare of red and yellow, of anger and fear. Instead he was an emotional blank slate.

 

“How do you know?” came Harrison Wells’ voice in her ear. She still wasn’t quite used to the idea that he was Harrison Wells but not THE Harrison Wells she knew of.

 

“My ring” she said simply. She could have offered a much more detailed explanation but since it seemed they didn’t fully believe her already she thought she’d save her breath.

 

“What-” someone said but before Shana could hear the rest there was another shot. Looking up sharply Shana saw to her horror that the man wasn’t shooting at her again, he’d just shot himself in the temple. Even as he crumpled doward, covering the shrieking blonde woman in his blood, Shana’s whole world was suddenly filled with a red and yellow blur as she felt an impact like a cannonball on her cheek. Before she even fully realized what was happening she felt herself slamming hard into a very solid surface. Stars exploded before her eyes and a moment later her brain suggested the explanation that she had just slammed backwards into another building. But how?

 

Before she could even being to work through this the blur of lightning filled her world again and suddenly she felt herself being driven backward through the brick and into the room behind it. Someone was shouting in her ear though she couldn’t make out what they were saying as she felt herself being throw bodily backward once more. The last wall she’d gone through had dazed her and turned her whole existence into a howling cyclone of pain. This one merely drove the breath out of her and left lying in a puddle of debris.

 

Though she was still dazed to a level she’d never before experienced some other part of her must still have been lucid. Some deeply embedded instinct for self preservation took over and without meaning to do so Shana snarled “enough!”. Her ring took it from there sending out a powerful wave of blue energy that caught her attacker front on sending him spinning backward. Mustering all her strength Shana managed to raise herself to her elbows and to look over at her tormentor. Her eyes shot wide as she saw Kid Flash, there was no mistaking that costume, straightening slowing and in obvious pain. 

 

“What the?...” Shana started to ask but at the sound of her voice Kid Flash’s head shot around and his eyes glared at her with an almost feral expression. Swallowing a curse Shana thrust out her arm to send a large blue hand streaking toward Kid Flash. She just managed to catch him as streaks of lightning began to form around his legs. And yet even as the large blue fingers closed around him Shana suddenly felt her whole body rock. She’d used her ring to lift objects as heavy as a garbage truck but she’d never had to try and grasp anything like this. Some incredibly powerful force was reverberating against her energy construct, powerful to jerk her arm around as though she were clinging to a firehose.

 

Looking over at Kid Flash she saw that his outline had become hazy. As though she were viewing him through steamed glass. She didn’t have much spare brain power to devote this however as she was having to concentrate with all her might to keep her grip on Kid Flash. Realizing that she wasn’t going to be able to keep this up she used her ring to lift Kid Flash into the air and float him back out through the hole she’d made when he’d driven her into the building. Struggling to her feet she floated quickly out into the air high over the street all while struggling to keep her erstwhile ally contained. Someone was still yelling in her ear but Shana had no spare attention for them. With the help of her ring she manifested six disembodied fists in the air around Kid Flash.

 

“I’m really sorry about this! from where she floated though she doubted Kid Flash could hear her as he was now thrashing and struggling violently against her energy construct. With a flick of her head Shana set all six fists to work pummeling him where he floated. Over and over they hit him with at least as much force as he’d first hit her with. Initially Kid Flash snarled and jerked under the hail of punishing blows but in a matter of seconds his resistance flagged and after a few moments more he was limp.

 

“Stop!” Shana heard Iris shouting into her ear. The reporter sounded desperate and terrified and it was that tone as much as the word itself that made Shana stop her assault. However just as she did Kid Flash vanished in a blaze of lightning and Shana once again felt herself being driven downward. A moment later she hit the street with a loud thud. She felt herself blacking out the instant she hit and would have if it hadn’t been for Kid Flash. A nanosecond after she hit he was standing over her doing..something. It certainly felt like he was punching her but it was happening so fast that all Shana saw was a blur. 

 

Feeling unconsciousness tugging at her Shana summoned all the power she could from the hope she held relating to Kid Flash. Doing her best to lift her ring hand she clenched her fist tightly. A moment later the punches ceased as Kid Flash found himself suddenly encased up to his neck in blowing blue bricks. Shana once again felt the odd reverberating sensation as she restrained him but this time with slightly less intensity. Without taking her eyes off her captive Shana slid slowly backward and then away from where Kid Flash was still obviously struggling.

 

“Iris...I’m sorry…” Shana said aloud as she levelled her ring at Kid Flash’s face and loosed a powerful beam of blue energy directly into his face. He let out a pained cry that was cut off almost instantly as he was knocked unconscious. Shana poured it on for a few seconds longer just to be safe but in the end she ceased fire and let the bricks vanish. Limping forward she knelt beside Kid Flash and then let her ring scan him. A moment later she said “...he’ll be fine”.

 

“Are you sure” Iris asked quietly after a long pause.

 

“Positive, my ring hasn’t been wrong about anything yet” Shana said, trying to sound reassuring which was tough through her voice distortion.  

 

“You two need to get out of their, the police will be swarming soon” Iris said mechanically. Shana shook her head without considering that Iris couldn’t see the gesture.

 

“I will in a moment but I need to go check on everyone in the station” she said as she encased Kid Flash in a blue bubble and then took him tow as she flew toward the main entrance of the station. To her surprise she was met by a thicket of raised guns as she approached. 

 

“Don’t move!” someone shouted at her.

 

“I just want to help!” Shana answered.

 

“I think you’ve done enough” another officer called, no one was lowering their guns.

 

“Leave Kid Flash, Central City will take care of him but you can fuck off lady!” another office yelled at Shana as he hefted his shotgun. It was a surprise to Shana how deeply these words cut her. She even felt tears stinging at her eyes but she kept a clear head.

 

“I’m taking him to his people, but if you wish you won’t see me again” Shana said, fighting mightily to keep her voice steady. With that she rotated in midair and and shot off with Kid Flash floating along behind her.

  
  


“What in the hell happened…” Joe West asked quietly as he looked through the window of the specially designed operating theater/cell. 

 

“We’ll figure this out...don’t worry” Cisco Ramon’s voice came through the intercom. Both he and Harry were standing in the cell examining Wally. Wally who had, apparently with no provocation, decided to assault Elpis. And now he was restrained to the table with a series of high tech cuffs and bars designed to contain a speedster. Devices that team Flash had hoped to never use.

 

“How bad are things at work?” Iris asked from beside him.

 

“What’s the word for beyond terrible?” Joe asked as he passed his hand over his yes. He looked and sounded like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. “Six dead cops...all from self inflicted gunshots in one day in the same place…” Joe added somberly “...this is an enormous mess”.

 

“What on earth could cause something like this?” Tracey Brand asked, her voice stunned. She was sitting in a corner a little apart from the others and staring blankly at the wall.

 

“I have no...idea…” Joe said in a hopeless tone. All sex officers had been men and women with spotless records and no early warning signs of suicidal tendencies. Seemingly they had all simply taken it into their heads to commit suicide for no reason other than the pressure of the situation. 

 

“I...actually might have some insight there detective” Julian Albert said as he entered the room holding a tablet. All eyes turned to him and he continued “...there is one common thread that links each and every one of these suicides including your suspects from the bank by the way” there was the barest hint of reproof in his voice as though he was annoyed that the others hadn’t mentioned their deaths as well.

 

When Julian didn’t volunteer any further information Joe finally asked “well?” in a tone that didn’t bother to conceal it’s annoyance. Julian was a fully accepted part of the team by now but he still occasionally took a tone of intellectual/moral superiority that could grate on the other members of Team Flash. Julian didn’t respond right away and instead began tapping on his tablet causing several holo displays to appear in mid air, each of them showing a different security feed,

 

“What do you see that each one has in common” Julian asked as he enlarged one screen after another. All eyes in the room studied the display intently for several moments but when no one reacted Julian added “...who is in each one?”.

 

“Wait...you don’t mean the victim?” Tracey asked incredulously.

 

“It fits, today we had many people suddenly do things completely out of character for them. For example all of these officers suddenly killing themselves. All of these events occurred when they were in close proximity to this woman…” Julian said plainly.

 

“That’s a big leap though Julian, she’s the victim here” Joe said.

 

“That girl went through hell today!” Tracey put in angrily.

 

“Or did she cause it?...” Julian asked sounding suddenly deflated. He passed his hand over his eyes and sighed before adding “...look, I know this isn’t pleasant to think about but with my...with OUR experience with meta’s it’s something we have to consider”. No one spoke at this, they all knew what Julian had been through when he’d been forced to act as ‘Alchemy’. After another pause Julian added “...I’ve done some digging on her and it seems strange events have a habit of following this woman”.

 

“Whats her name” Joe asked quietly, quietly but now sounding interested.

 

“Well that's interesting...her name is Peyton Riley….from Gotham” Julian said.

 

“Wait...Riley?” Iris asked, eyes narrowed.

 

“As in the Red Rileys? The ones who run the Irish Mob in all over the east coast?” Joe asked sounding perplexed.

 

“It seems so...not that it proves anything by itself of course” Julian said fairly.

 

“We need to look into this…but as much as I hate to admit this: without Wally on his feet Central City is looking real vulnerable at the moment” Joe said as he turned to look helplessly at Wally’s unconscious form in the cell.

 

“Elpis took off right after she dropped off Wally...she seemed really upset…” Iris said quietly. This was an understatement on her part. The strange blue woman had looked on the point of tears when Iris had met her with a gurney.

 

“Then maybe we should go to her” Joe said.

 

“Maybe...but not alone” Iris answered him.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for more from Shana (I do love writing her). PS I'd love to get someone on board to write a companion series to the Blue Lantern so if you're interested let me know!


	4. Chapter 4: Expanding Conflict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Kid Flash out of commission Central City is without a guardian, will Team Flash be able to convince Elpis to assume the post?

_ “Remember, we’re not here for a fight”  _

 

Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke, snorted as he donned his helmet. He checked took a moment to get his bearings once more before responding to the voice in his ear “I’m here as a favor to Oliver and nothing more, I’ve got other things I need to be doing”.

 

“Yes what a good little lap dog you are” Dinah Drake muttered from the otherside of the doorway they were standing beside. Slade fixed the brunette with a cold glare that had made hardened killers quite literally shake in their boots.  Dinah ostentatiously ignored him.

 

“Enough you two!” Iris West hissed from where she stood behind Slade. She was thoroughly sick of listening to the sparring between Drake and Wilson. She didn’t know what Oliver Queen had done to alienate his former teammate Dinah so badly and at this moment she didn’t much care. All she knew was that when she showed up on Elpis’ doorstep there was a chance that the blue lantern could react badly. And given her power levels everyone on Team Flash had thought it for the best to call in some reinforcements. And, as prickly as their personalities could be, Dinah and Slade were two of the most experienced people alive when it came to confronting and containing meta humans.

 

“ _ Yes if we could please focus”  _ came a somewhat miffed sounding voice in all their ears. The voice belonged to Alena, aka Kojo Sledgehammer, one of Team Arrow’s resident hackers and tech experts. Iris would have preferred that Felicity be the one coordinating but she hadn’t been available so they were paired with Alena.

 

“Yes let’s all go over the bloody plan once more” Slade muttered to himself.

 

Iris shot him a nasty look but proceeded as though he hadn’t spoken as she said “remember we’re here to try and convince Elpis to help us, no one do anything stupid because there is no reason this has to escalate!”. 

 

“If you called me darling, then it seems you think it COULD escalate” Slade put in.

 

“Given her powers, are you sure we’ll even be enough?” Dinah asked.

 

Iris bit her lip before saying “let's just hope it doesn’t come to that”.

 

“ _ Well that's comforting”  _ Alena said in their ears.

 

Iris again ignored the annoyance and said “OK I’m going to knock now and then-”. She was cut off abruptly by a thudding sound from the far of the hallway they were standing in. Three sets of eyes flashed in the direction of the noise and found a slim young woman with brilliantly blue hair clad in a black coat and jeans. The source of the noise that had alerted to them was obvious as a bag of groceries had spilled it’s contents all over the hallway. It took Iris half a moment to realize that she actually knew the petite woman, from her job at the Flash Museum. A millisecond later she grasped the implications of what she was seeing and her own eyes widened. Before she could react the blue haired woman darted out of sight back into the stairwell. Iris heard the sound of feet on the steps before she even realized what was happening.

 

“Was that her?!” Dinah snapped as she took several steps down the corridor while looking impatiently at Iris. All Iris could do was nod in shock. Slade and Dinah didn’t need anymore prompting as Dinah took off after the fleeing woman while Slade turned and headed toward the window at the end of the hallway.

 

“ _ I have her on a security feed, still heading down the stairs _ ” Alena’s said through their earpieces. There was a short pause before she asked “... _ uh Iris...are you OK?”. _

 

Iris shook her head once before pressing a finger to her ear and saying “yes, I’m fine it’s just...I...WE know who Elpis is”.

 

“ _ What?”  _ Elena asked sound shocked.

 

_ “Who?”  _ came Tracy Brand’s voice over their channel, she was obviously the one monitoring the situation at STAR labs.

 

“It’s...it’s Shana...Shana Walker” Iris said in a voice of stunned amazement.

 

“The girl from the Jitters cart?” Tracey asked sounding shocked.

  
  
  


Shana Walker, aka Elpis, was sprinting as fast as she could down the stairs in her apartment building without risking a crippling fall. What little part of her brain wasn’t panicking was frantically seeking the answer to the one question that now defined her existence: how had they known? Still she did  her best to push this aside as she could already hear someone following her down the stairs. Her one thought was to make it outside and make it to some quiet alley were she could use her ring to make a full escape.

 

“Hey! Stop!” came a woman’s voice from above her. Shana didn’t recognize the voice so she assumed it belonged the brunette woman who had been standing with Iris. Iris...she kicked herself from being so stupid. The woman was a journalist and of course she’d have tried to deduce who Elpis really was. Shoving this aside as well Shana shoved open a side door as soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs. She took one step through the open door and froze. Blocking her was was the large man wearing the half orange helmet she’d seen standing next to Iris outside her apartment.

 

“Good evening darling…” his voice was muffled through his helmet but Shana still thought she detected either an australian or New Zealand accent “...I need you to slow down for a moment, there’s someone who wants to talk to you”. Shana barely registered what he was saying as her eyes had fixed on the sword slung across his back and the pistols holstered on his hips. Reacting on instinct she thrust her closed right hand toward him. This seemed to amuse him as he started to say “...a punch generally works best if-” he never finished however.

 

As he spoke a group of brilliantly blue staples appeared in mind air and drove him back into the brick wall behind him. Before he could react his wrists, ankles, waist, and neck were anchored firmly to the wall. Leaving him there Shana began sprinting down the alley even as she heard him swearing loudly from where he was pinned. When she rounded the L bend of the alley Shana formed her Elpis costume around her and shot off into the cool night air. Her mind was still racing but one question managed to shoulder its way to the front of her brain: what was she going to do?

  
  
  


“So what happened” asked the hologram of Oliver Queen from where it hovered in the STAR labs control room. 

 

“She got scared and ran” Iris said in a deflated voice.

 

Oliver’s lips formed a thin line as she looked at Slade and asked “nothing you could have done then?”.

 

Slade looked miffed and said “I was stapled to a bloody wall kid, if you want this one you’ll need to bring your own top level meta”.

 

Oliver nodded slowly before turning his gaze to where Dinah was standing leaning against the entrance to the lab before saying “it’s nice to see you again Dinah”. In response Dinah left the room leaving an awkward silence behind her.

 

“Well…” Joe put in when the pause had stretched for an uncomfortable several seconds “...we’ll need to make a new plan for finding Elpis”.

 

“That’s assuming she hasn’t fled Central City entirely” Harry said from where he sat slightly apart from the group.

 

“I don’t think so…” Oliver said as he folded his arms “...if she’s been in Central City for as long as you think there is obviously something keeping him there, and finding that thing will probably be the first step in finding her”.

 

“Well she told us she’s looking for this ‘Green Lantern’ of hers but we still have no clear idea of who that could be...and only a foggy one on WHAT it is” Joe said.

 

“I asked Constantine and he’s never heard of it…” Oliver answered “...so it’s likely not something mystically based”.

 

Iris shook her head “no Elpis made it seem more like something alien”.

 

“It might be worth a trip to National City then” Cisco added.

 

“Maybe so, but that won’t solve the problem we originally tied to contact her about...we still need someone protecting Central City to deal with things the cops just can’t” Joe said.

 

“Slade?” Oliver asked the super soldier.

 

“Sorry kid, I’ve got my own things to do right now” Slade said.

 

“Thanks for nothing” Cisco muttered before quickly looking down at his keyboard when Slade turned to look at him.

 

“You should ask Dinah” Oliver said after pausing for several moments.

 

“Uh...will she do it? I mean you and her obviously…” Iris started to say but Oliver cut her off.

 

“That’s why I suggested YOU should ask her, not me...” he said shortly before turning to look at Slade and saying “...let me know when you want to cash in that favor I owe you”.

 

“Alright kid...” Slade said before turning to leave and adding over his shoulder “...I’ll show myself out then”. No one spoke until he’d left the room, then Harry spoke.

 

“I think Ms. West should be the one the one to approach Ms. Drake” he said simply.

 

“Why me?” Iris asked.

 

Harry took off his glasses as he regarded Iris with an impatient look before answering “...because you have a demeanor that makes people trust you and to WANT to help you”. Iris wasn’t sure if she should be offended at this but the looks on the others present seemed to confirm what Harry said.

 

“If you’re doing that you’d better hurry...” Cisco said as he tapped a few keys “...it looks like she’s heading to the elevator now”.

  
  


Joe West had definitely had better days at work. 

 

In recent weeks the Central City Police department had been vigilantly looking out for any potential repeat of the Goed Valley attack, an enormous spike of Irish organized crime in the city, and the loss of the cities two metahuman guardians, his two sons Barry and Wally. He was just brooding on this when he was startled back to alertness by the thudding of a large file on his desk. Looking up her found himself staring up into the grim visage of Captain David Singh.

 

“I need you down in Koreatown immediately Joe, the Hwang Song Sung Pa just got hit again...hard” he said ina  voice that betrayed just how little sleep he’d been getting.

 

Joe ran a hand over his eyes before asking “the Irish?”. He knew what the answer would be but he asked anyway.

 

“It looks that way” Singh said, as he dropped heavily into the chair across the desk from Joe. This surprised Joe enough to make him lift his eyebrows, the Captain was usually unflappable and to see this open display of fatigue meant things must be bad indeed.

 

“If they’re pushing into Koreatown then they’re getting even MORE aggressive...which I didn’t think was even possible” Joe said as he flipped open the file in front of him and scanned the first sheet. Over the last few weeks the Irish mob had dramatically expanded its presence in Central City. They’d quickly whipped several local street gangs into line and then used that extra muscle to wage a brutal war on the other organized crime groups in the city. Already they had effectively run the Bratva and Italians out of town and now seemed to be targeting the Koreans.

 

“And I’m sure they’ll have the Hwang Song Sung Pa on the ropes soon” Singh said in a tired voice. He stared darkly at the desk for several moments before looking over at Joe and saying “I hate to say this….but we need help”. Joe understood exactly what sort of ‘help’ he was talking about. They needed the Flash back. And if they couldn’t have that then Kid Flash. Neither was an option and Joe had no idea if Iris would succeed in convincing Dinah Drake to step into the vacant post of Central City Superhero.

 

Joe knew why Singh was telling him this and he hated to disappoint the captain but since he had nothing to report he simply stood and grabbed his coat before saying “I’ll head down there right away sir, and we’ll get this figured out”. He tried to sound reassuring though as he didn’t feel particularly confident himself.

 

Singh smiled weakly and said “thank you detective” before heaving himself to his feet and walking back toward his office. Joe was just about to leave when Singh burst out of his office and shouted over to him.

 

“West! Get to 5th and F now and take charge, we’ve got a violent crime in progress!” he bellowed at Joe. Joe didn’t need telling twice and he was in the driver’s seat of his car what felt like only a few moments later. As he sped through the streets of Central City he listened to the reports coming in over the radio. It seemed that several Irish thugs had gone into a laundromat in Koreatown where they had met some kind of resistance and now there was a standoff. Less than ten minutes later Joe brought his car to a skidding stop over the curb before ducking out of his car and joining several officers who were hunkered down behind their squad cars. 

 

“What’s going on officer” Joe asked the man closest to him.

 

“A few minutes ago there was a lot of shooting inside and now it’s all gone quiet though we know someone’s still in there because-” he was cut off by a high warbling shriek of agony that reverberated out from inside the laundromat.

 

“Jesus…” Joe muttered before asking the officer “...has there been any communication from inside?”.

 

“Nothing…” the officer said as he peaked briefly over the hood of the car before ducking back “...but whenever someone approaches the place someone starts shooting from inside”.

 

“What's the ETA on SWAT?” Joe asked.

 

“On their way, in the meantime we’ve sealed off a two block perimeter, no one’s getting out of their unless we say so” the officer said. Joe nodded in approval but didn’t relax. He wasn’t going to take anything for granted until he had everyone involved in cuffs. Still he couldn’t help but be reassured when, a few minutes later, the SWAT van screeched around a corner and began barreling up toward the crime scene.

 

“Here comes the cavalry” one of the officers said with a note of triumph in his voice. Joe was about to say something when he suddenly started violently as the van was thrown into the air as an explosion blossomed from it’s side.

 

“What the hell?!” Joe shouted as the van came crashing down on top of a parked car. No one responded because they were distracted by the pinging tattoo of bullets suddenly striking the cars and street around them. Snapping gaze up Joe saw a large group of men wearing ski masks pouring into the street, all of them were armed and all were heading straight toward him and the other police.

 

“Find some cover!” Joe bellowed as he ran as fast as he could while staying low toward the shelter of a nearby bus shelter. He was always aware of the potential danger of fire from inside the laundromat but at this moment the new attackers were the bigger threat. Peeking out quickly from behind the bus stop Joe squeezed off a shot at one of the nearby attackers, but had to jerk back behind the stop before he could see if he hit the man as bullets began stabbing toward him. He could dimly see one of the officers he’d been crouching with shouting into his radio but couldn’t make out what he was saying.

 

Just then there was an extremely high warbling scream that made him and everyone else in the vicinity wince. What was more he saw several of the armed men go flying through the air as though tossed by a giant. He winced again as the cry was repeated and more men went flying. Taking the risk of peeking his head out from behind the shelter Joe surveyed the scene and almost sagged in relief. Standing atop a squad car was Dinah Drake, clad in her Black Canary leathers and a small mask while holding a metal staff. She was currently shouting with all her might at a group of the masked men, her canary cry hitting them with the force of an 18 wheeler.

 

As Joe watched Dinah leapt down from the car and waded into a group of the stunned men and begin laying about her with her staff. Unfortunately several of the attackers were streaming past her and her opponents and hurrying toward the laundromat. Joe was drawing down on one when he suddenly slumped to his knees, a small shaft protruding from his throat. Before Joe could react another small arrow appeared in the forehead of another man. The others began reacting at this point but before they could fire more than a few scattered shots two more fell with arrow wounds. 

 

“What the hell” Joe said out loud as his mind automatically went to the members of team arrow. His confusion was heightened when another woman walked out of the shattered front of the laundromat. She was clad in leather link Dinah though she wore no mask and she had a powerful looking crossbow in her hands. Joe watched in stunned fasciation as she drew back her weapon and knocked another bolt. Realizing what she intended he rose from his cover and shouted “Freeze! Drop the weapon”.

 

Faster than he could even see the woman’s left arm flipped up and toward him as a moment late her felt a sharp stab of red hot pain in his shoulder. He felt himself slump hard against the side of the bus stop and as he slid down it he finally noticed the small bolt sticking out of his left shoulder. Doing his best to keep a solid grip on his gun even as his vision wavered Joe looked up once more and saw the woman with the crossbow steadily and methodically firing towards the fight. This was the last thing he saw before his vision blurred and faded slowly to black.

  
  
  


Dinah Drake didn’t even realize a knew player had entered her pitched battle until one the men she was fighting suddenly slumped sideways with an small arrow in his temple. Ducking to one side and sweeping her staffbackward to drop her last remaining opponent she spun in a low crouch, careful to keep a car between herself and the direction the arrow came from. She wondered briefly if Oliver had intervened but then she discarded this thought as the arrow didn’t fit his usual type.

 

Her curiosity was answered when she heard a woman calling to her “well really...does Olly never run out of girls?”. The voice was both mocking and challenging.

 

“Oh you did not…” Dinah muttered to herself as she suddenly leapt onto the hood of the car she was behind and opened her mouth to unleash the full force of her canary cry. To her great surprise nothing happened, she tried again with the same results. It was then that she noticed the dark haired woman looking at her with a condescending smile on her face.

 

“Oh dear…” she said in a mock girlish voice “...are someone’s powers being dampened?”. Dinah just had time to realize that the woman had some sort of meta dampening device on her before she levelled her crossbow and fired it straight at Dinah. Here her training with Oliver saved as she managed to deflect the oncoming projectile with her staff...barely. Her attacker looked momentarily perplexed, as though something only mildly surprising had occured. A moment later she had knocked and fired another bolt which Dinah managed to deflect with more confidence this time.

 

“You have to run out eventually” Dinah shouted at her before tilting her head at the sound of approaching sirens. Looking at the other woman with a triumphant smirk “and it seems you’re out of time”.

 

“Oh we’ll see” the other woman said as she fired once more. Dinah deflected the bolt but her attacker used the time that took to close the distance with her while dropping her crossbow. A moment later she launched a barrage of punishing punches and kicks at Dinah. Whoever this woman was she was very good Dinah noted. It took all of her efforts to defend herself and only occasionally was she able to counter attack. Though she had to work as hard as she ever had to defend herself she couldn’t help but noticing something familiar in the woman’s style. A moment later it hit her, she’d been trained by Oliver...she had to have been.

 

Dinah’s eyes widened at this realization and that tiny distraction was enough for her opponent. The dark haired woman spun in a lightning circle causing Dinah to backpedal to avoid and expected kick. Instead the woman completed her rotation and flung a handful of broken glass she’d picked up during her spin toward Dinah’s face. Dinah was able to get her forearms in front of her face but that cost her dearly. Dinah felt the arrow drive into her stomach at the exact moment she realized the mistake she had made. 

 

Her arms fell limply to her side as she staggered back a few steps. Looking down she saw the bolt protruding from her stomach, her fingers groped toward but before she could take a firm grip she felt herself falling backward. A moment later the other woman’s face came into her field of vision looking down at her. She had an expression of mock pity on her face as she said “hmm...Olly’s standards seem to be slipping, I wish I could stay but as you said I have to run”. Dinah followed her with her eyes as the woman hurried into the back of the laundromat. She managed to elbow crawl over to a bullet ridden back of dryers and lean against with a pained groan.

 

That was where Cisco found her as he vibed into the restaurant. He had been monitoring the disaster with the rest of team Flash and had moved quickly to intervene. He couldn’t move Joe, too many complications with a detective on the CCPD vanishing from a crime scene where he was seen wounded. So as painful as it had been for Cisco he had left Joe where he lay and moved onto Dinah. Even with his limited medical knowledge Cisco could see that this wound was going to be well beyond him. 

 

Dinah surprised him then by fluttering her eyes open and saying in a weak gasp “Not one joke from you Ramon? I guess that means things are looking grim”.

 

“They….have probably looked better” Cisco said with a weak smile. He was only half paying attention as he was concentrating on vibing Dinah and himself out. A moment later they both vanished from the laundromat. Neither noticed the shadowy figure staring intently at them from the shadows behind them.

  
  


“Bloody hell, every time I need her the girl is playing the damned show girl” John Constantine muttered to himself as he stood in the alley behind the Brandmore Theater in Midway City. The Michigan winter wasn’t be kind this night and Constantine was already up this ankles in snow despite only having been waiting for a short time. He blew his breath out once more in a puff of steam as he stamped his feet in a futile effort to stay warm. He’d come to Midway City to seek help from an old acquaintance, though he couldn’t quite call her a friend. They had worked together before and they’d been fairly effective, though their personalities were too different to allow for a seamless cooperation. Still that didn’t matter now, not with the world potentially at stake.

 

Something was amiss in the mystical world, Constantine had sensed it growing for some time and now it felt as though all of reality was being squeezed by a serpent. He’d done some preliminary digging on his own and what little he’d found had convinced him that he simply wouldn’t be able to continue alone. Of his occult acquaintances the one he was visiting tonight was perhaps the most important to his future plans. His thoughts were interrupted as a dark limousine pulled to a stop further down the alley from where he stood, directly outside a rear exit from the theater. 

 

“Well someone is doing well by herself” Constantine muttered as he strode briskly through the snow toward the car. He wasn’t surprised to see a driver standing by one of the doors, or another man that he knew was her manager, he was however surprised to see a third man with the unmistakable air of a bodyguard. Rolling his eyes as he drew a cigarette and lit it with a flick of a finger he muttered “bloody paranoid celebrities”.

 

It was the bodyguard who noticed his approach first. He was a very large man who looked like the stereotype of a rugby union player. He turned quickly and opened his mouth to speak before he suddenly went totally rigid. The other two men noticed his movement and both began turning toward Constantine but a further flick of his fingers and a muttered spell froze both of them as well. Constantine then took a long drag on his cigarette and then blew into his hands before looking back toward the stock still men.

 

“Alright, you there, uh...Mr. Bodyguard, you’ll get back into the car like usual when she comes out but after that you’ll take a quick nap yeah?” the bodyguard nodded once and turned back to look at the rear exit door. Turning to the other two men Constantine added “the same for you Mr. Manager and you driver man are off for the night go get yourself a drink”. Both men nodded and set about their instructions as Constantine made his way around to the drivers door and settled himself into the front seat to wait. He didn’t need long as a few short minutes later the door to the theater opened and two figures in thick coats came hurrying out and down the steps toward the limo.

 

“Hey Bruno” one of the figures, a blonde woman, said as she ducked into the limo. The second figure, a taller woman with jet black hair, ducked into the car after her companion and began trying to work some of the snow from her hair when she looked around at her two companions, both of whom had instantly fallen into deep sleeps as soon as she had shut the door behind her. 

 

“Uh...Donnie? Bruno?” she said hesitantly. When neither man responded she looked toward the front of the car saying “Jimmy, are Donnie and Bruno OK?”.

 

Smiling softly to himself Constantine rolled down the window separating his portion of the car from the rear and turned around saying “sorry love Jimmy took a walk, and I need a quick word”. 

 

The dark haired woman’s eyes widened and then narrowed dangerously in the span of a second. It was the blonde who answered however as she asked in a harsh tone “Who are you? Where is Ms. Zatara’s usual driver?!”. 

 

Constantine was about to respond when the dark haired woman, Zatanna Zatara was her name, cut him off and said “Abbie, please wait for me outside the car for a moment”. The blonde looked as shocked as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on her and looked as though she would object but before she could Zatanna said “now” in a tone that brooked absolutely no argument. After she had left the limo Zatanna looked back at Constantine with a deadly glare and asked sharply “what do you want?”.

 

“Well come now Z, can’t I just stop in for a-”.

 

“Do NOT call me that” Zatanna snapped.

 

“Very well Z I-” Constantine started to say but Zatanna cut him off.

 

“Niartser!” she said and in an instant Constantine found his arms locked to his sides and legs locked together as his head was wrenched around so he was staring straight ahead. He winced as his cigarette fell from his mouth and was looking futilely down at it when Zatanna asked again “what...do...you...want?”.

 

Tearing his eyes away from his lost pacifier Constantine addressed the windshield as he said “I don’t think I really need to tell you, even while you’re doing your dog and pony show you had to have sensed it”. The fact that Zatanna didn’t answer encouraged Constantine and he went on “and I think we both know that you have more important things to be doing than performing sleight of hand tricks”.

 

“Like helping you?” Zatanna asked in a mixed tone of hostility and skepticism.

 

“Well I’d surely appreciate it, and I only need a small favor” Constantine answered. Zatanna scoffed loudly at this in a way that suggested she’d heard this before, and to be fair she had.

“Oh what is it this time?...” Zatanna asked in a tone dripping with sarcasm “...a quick jaunt through a demon dimension? Maybe you’ll ask me to go with you to hell again?”.

 

“Oh nothing like that…” Constantine answered in a strained voice as he could feel the invisible bonds holding him tightening “...I rather think you’ll like this jaunt”.

 

“Oh I very much doubt that”

 

“Really? Not even if it’s a quick hop over to Central City?”.

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one is a BIT of a mess with all the cameos but I promise there will be a payoff in the end! Thank you so much for taking the time to read the Blue Lantern and my other stuff as well. As always, I LOVE feedback!
> 
> \- Attack Platypus


End file.
